Regional Economic Development

The increasing risk, and how to keep the flames at bay

The ugly nightmare of the digital age is that new information technologies will increase the advantages of urban and suburban America and deepen the disadvantages of small towns and rural America.

There’s an unfortunate if not unavoidable tendency for talk about rural communities to veer at times into hopelessness. State legislatures and Congress don’t seem to put rural concerns on the stove, much less on the front burner. Too many rural communities are seeing an out migration of people. And with fewer people, it’s just harder to build an economy.

Advanced Web Page Technology covers the breakthroughs that are helping economic development professionals leverage the power of the Internet to provide enhanced business attraction services and greatly expand the marketing of a community.

Controversial scientist James Lovelock is convinced that current conceptions of "sustainable development" are hopelessly wrongheaded. We’re facing a climate catastrophe, he believes, and only radical solutions will be up to the challenge.

Sure the Western U.S., with its big skies and open spaces feels green–but when you look at broader measurements of humans’ impact on the environment, including consumption patterns, air and water quality, and waste, as well as policy, they don’t fare as well.

While good science is at the core, we found three other factors to be especially powerful in determining a cluster’s competitiveness and growth potential.

Through their 2006 resolution, “Transportation Fuels for the Future,” Western Governors placed a priority on assessing the West’s alternative and replacement fuels to supplement traditional sources.

Diminished supplies of fresh water might prove a far more serious problem than slowly rising seas.

“We are excited to play a role in early stage investment by
joining the other significant ACA members in our region.” Lee Cheatham, Executive Director of Washington Technology Center