Rural Communities

Some of those new industrial projects have nothing to do with the traditional agricultural base of places such as Grant County. Microsoft and Yahoo are both building data centers at Quincy; Intuit is doing due diligence on another, Brewer said, and the economic development council is talking to still more companies lured by lower land and power prices.

"We’re not going to just let things happen in Cody," Mahieu said. "We’re going to create what Cody is going to be."

Some companies are beginning to take notice, providing new options and opportunities in the ongoing war for talent.

Relief is not immediately at hand.

The Other Washington is also proving to be a destination for retirees, want-to-be retirees and entrepreneurs, all looking for an alternative to big-city life. That makes the Other Washington a relief valve for growth and ever-escalating housing prices in the Puget Sound area, but it also makes it a competitor to Seattle as a place where adults of all ages decide they want to live, work, start businesses, raise families and retire.

The Olympic Peninsula, once dependent upon exporting logs and lumber, is building an economy based on the importation of people, their companies and their money.

Five communities around the country demonstrate ways to overcome common challenges and create attractive, appealing places to call home.

We will need to combine top level researchers with the most creative people we can attract — largely through providing the highest quality of life our communities can offer.

Our economic future depends on it.

Paducah, Kentucky wants artists. "The difference between New York’s SOHO and here is the artists own it, and they have a piece of it. The arts always make it a cool place to be. Without the arts it’s just another suburb."

If you are interested in this trend in economic development, I recommend that you read Jack Schultz’s BoomTown USA: The 7-1/2 Keys to Big Success in Small Towns