Regional Economic Development

With the national culture wars escalating on all fronts, it’s not surprising that most of the controversy revolves around the idea that cities with thriving arts and cultural climates and openness to diversity of all sorts also enjoy higher rates of innovation and high-wage economic growth.

Although oil and natural gas activity has been increasing, overall job growth has been slow. So the numbers of young couples – and their offspring – have dropped because of more attractive opportunities in neighboring states, according to state economist Wenlin Liu.

Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius signed important measures into law last Monday. Overall, Kansas is committing more than $500 million (over 10 years) to support a host of initiatives designed to stimulate entrepreneurship and technology development.

Getting better results from schools is the only way to assure that their communities will succeed as places. A new report offers several possible solutions.

An Idaho company is looking for sites to build a "green energy" plant that it says can produce 10 times as much energy as a typical anaerobic digester. And it’s trying to drum up some interest locally.

It is no secret that the largest job creation in the country comes from small businesses and entrepreneurial efforts. Do the economic developers in the community you plan to start your business in truly understand this?

Although women have made
gains in all these areas in past decades, they still earn
less, are less likely to own a business, and are more likely
to live in poverty than men across the states.

"It is possible to create successful clusters. The initiatives work best in areas where there are good conditions for enterprise. But you have to be clear about precisely what it is the market cannot provide before you start. Unfortunately the cluster branch is among many things a last place of refuge for old Marxists and people who see local initiatives as an alternative to a globalised world."

The solution to the problem is obvious, Gerking said, though politically unrealistic here in the Cowboy State: institute an income tax.

In the 1990s the city’s downtown was deserted. Yet Ventura, CA has come back to win the designation of "most livable city" in the small-city category. "I’m excited about the recognition. To me, it reflects a community that has decided to really look inward … and to identify its strength and where we’re going in the future.