New Directions in Rural Economic Development

Welcome to the third issue of Economic Development America.

This edition focuses on rural economic
development, covering a range of issues from workforce development and innovation entrepreneur networks
to value-added agriculture and more. The Economic Development Administration hopes you find
tools and ideas in this issue to foster the kinds of rural economic development opportunities that President
Bush is committed to expanding.

A Message from David A. Sampson
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development

In June, the U.S. Department of Commerce released Competitiveness in Rural U.S. Regions, a report
funded by EDA and produced by Professor Michael Porter and the Institute for Strategy and
Competitiveness at Harvard Business School. The report is an important step in achieving a contemporary
understanding and approach to addressing the economic needs of rural America.

The report describes a significant opportunity to move thinking and practice in this field to a new level.
There is a clear willingness to act; what seems to be missing is the unifying approach that can rally different
participants around a common agenda. The underlying strength of the U.S. economy is its regional economies, an approach that now
needs to be better leveraged for rural areas as well.

Rural communities throughout our nation can grow and prosper; however, they must respond to the fact that the world economy is
changing. Through regional economic development, cluster development or some other means, rural communities can be fully engaged
in the growing economies of their regions. The change is difficult, but by embracing it – differentiating communities by their unique
assets and discovering innovative ways of growing economies – rural areas can prosper in an ever-changing world.

For the full PDF report: http://www.eda.gov/ImageCache/EDAPublic/documents/pdfdocs/edasummer2004_5ffinal_2epdf/v1/edasummer2004_5ffinal.pdf