Skip to main content

Student Corner: Can you feel it Coming in the Air? Rural Economic Development and Wind Farms

August 6, 2015

Money may not literally grow on trees, but a glance at North Carolina’s rural economies reveals that cash crops sprout not just in our long-cultivated cotton and tobacco fields: they now also root in the steep hillsides of northwestern Christmas tree farms and navigate the waters flowing through the … Read more

Improving Higher Education’s Role in Workforce Development

May 5, 2015

Human capital and talent are increasingly important drivers of regional competitiveness. States and localities recognize that their economic development success is inextricably linked to their ability to cultivate and develop a workforce that has the knowledge and skills required by key businesses a … Read more

Student Corner: CDFI Profile: The Support Center

March 26, 2015

Oftentimes, small businesses and entrepreneurs seeking to start businesses require capital to do so but do not have the track record necessary to be eligible for loans from traditional sources. Additionally, they may not have the size or scale to justify their lending needs. However, the ability of … Read more

Student Corner: Workforce Development Dollars — Has your community cashed in?

December 18, 2014

In North Carolina, workforce training programs are primarily delivered through the 23 local, workforce development boards or through the state’s 59 community colleges. Most economic developers will be aware of these resources but may not know some of the programs these providers offer or the creativ … Read more

Student Corner: A Look Inside the Privatization of NC’s Regional Economic Development Partnerships

September 4, 2014

In the 2013 State Budget Act, the State of North Carolina voted to defund North Carolina’s regional economic development partnership and to dissolve the four “rural” public partnerships, including the NC Eastern Region, Advantage West, the Southeast Regional Economic Development Partnership, and the … Read more

Rethinking Higher Education?

March 4, 2014

There are calls from many quarters to reform higher education and make it more accessible, affordable, and relevant in the dynamic, global economy of the 21st century.  A recent study produced jointly by the Lumina Foundation and Gallup reinforces this theme.  The study reports the results from both … Read more

The Promise of State Sector Strategies

April 3, 2013

Over the past decade, many states have adopted so called sector strategies that are designed to bring government, education, job training, and economic development stakeholders together in order to better meet the workforce needs of key industries.   Sector strategies also make an explicit attempt t … Read more

Project Based Learning Takes on Future Environmental Challenges

January 22, 2013

Interested in innovation, community development, and education? The US Environmental Protection Agency seems to receive a lot of attention these days for their regulatory role, but they also play an important role in research with numerous programs supporting investigation into new ways of protectin … Read more

When Energy Efficiency Programs Are About More Than Saving Energy

September 25, 2012

Government-backed energy efficiency programs provide opportunities for all types of buildings to reduce their electricity consumption and save money—from single family residences and affordable housing facilities to small businesses and industrial plants.  These same energy improvements also have po … Read more

Confronting the nation’s “age bubble” in your community and your organization

September 13, 2012

There is much being discussed about the impact of the “silver tsunami.”  Baby boomers (people born between 1946 and 1964) now make up 45 percent of the workforce, and “matures” (people born before 1946), 10 percent. The proportion of older workers (defined as those fifty-five years old and up) is pr … Read more