We are awash in data on CED issues from annexation to zoning. What NC CED professionals need, however, is valid data based in reliable research, appropriate for their current questions, and relevant and applicable to North Carolina. This post outlines how NC CED practitioners can access this kind of … Read more

In the past year, activity around local food systems increased dramatically. Government has been involved in supporting food systems for decades, but primarily through programs adopted at the federal level to both promote food production and protect the health of consumers. But having government wor … Read more

CED officials prioritize good service. But are they undercutting their own efforts, increasing service availability on one hand but making it difficult to actively use the services on the other? A number of recent national reports, commentaries and even teaching case studies have raised the issue of … Read more

In the final post of this three-part series (Part I and Part II can be found here and here), the CED blog will explore the economic impact of startups on North Carolina’s economy and recent trends. If Amazon were to choose the Triangle for its HQ2, it is almost hard to imagine the impact it would ha … Read more

Part I of this three-part series covered the co-working concept and what additional resources business incubators can offer.  Now in part II, the CED blog will take a deep dive into three of North Carolina’s business incubators, specifically HQ Raleigh, Launch Chapel Hill, and American Underground i … Read more

There have been numerous national reports of positive economic information over the past six months. Unemployment is low, economic growth is steady and even growing, jobs are being created and 10 years later, we are finally moving beyond the devastating impacts of the recession. It would appear that … Read more

This past Friday, at the Southeastern Conference for Public Administration 2016 Annual Conference in Raleigh, second year UNC MPA graduate student Sabrina Willard accepted the Robert Klein Award for her paper on the presence of social media in North Carolina jurisdictions. The results of her paper r … Read more

Launching a retail business in a downtown storefront is a capital and knowledge intensive endeavor. Equally, Main Streets across North Carolina and the country are struggling to retain and attract vendors, with each new empty window display threatening the economic health of the street as a whole. I … Read more

Food is in the news, and CED professionals should look below the surface images and arguments to a fundamental question raised about local capacity issues important to the NC farm and food industry. In honor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Food for All all-university 2015-2017 aca … Read more

Across the United States, malls are an endangered species. Once a marker of local economic success, the traditional, enclosed shopping mall are becoming abandoned, irrelevant, and forgotten structures. Many anchor tenants, like J.C. Penney, are relocating or closing down altogether. The high costs a … Read more