Growing Toward the Future: Building Capacity for Local Economic Development

Highlights

Resilience is the capacity of a region to respond effectively to a shock, such as the effects of realigning or declining industries, a national economic recession, or a natural disaster.

Strong local government leadership, cross-sector partnerships, and inclusive community participation are critical to increasing regional capacity.

The federal Strong Cities, Strong Communities initiative promotes resilience by helping localities build capacity and maximize the effectiveness of federal funds.

Full Report: http://www.huduser.org/portal/periodicals/em/winter12/highlight1.html

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Rural Wealth Creation: Concepts, Strategies, and Measures

This report presents a conceptual framework for rural wealth creation, drawing upon the U.S. and international development literature. The framework emphasizes the importance of multiple types of assets (physical, financial, human, intellectual, natural, social, political, and cultural capital) and the economic, institutional, and policy context in which rural wealth strategies are devised. The report discusses the role of wealth creation in the rural development process, how wealth can be created in rural communities, and how its accumulation and effects can be measured.

By John Pender, Alexander Marré, and Richard Reeder

Full Report: http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err131/