"Small Schools, Education, and the Importance of Community" focuses on three successful approaches for using the school as a catalyst for community development and revitalization, particularly in rural areas. The strategies also work well in suburban and urban areas. The three approaches described include: leadership by K-12 teachers,…

Economic growth and development have many implications that need to be considered so that informed decisions regarding the community can be made. Although expansion of an existing establishment or a newly located plant or business are the primary means by which communities seek economic growth, growth can also occur when the new industry is…

Community decision makers selecting an economic development strategy most appropriate for their local community must begin with an understanding of how their local economy functions, what its economic base is, and how changes in that base may affect local economic structure and performance. The economic base approach emphasizes the roles of…

This document describes REAL Enterprises, an economic education consortium working to assist young people to research, plan, set up, own, and operate economically viable small businesses in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The program was developed with the following goals: (1) to help rural schools become effective business incubators…

The purpose of this guidebook is to help elected leaders of small towns and communities stretch their investments when matching funds are required to compete for a grant or to pay for development costs above the grant award itself. The federal "small cities" Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) is used as an example throughout the…

Many communities have economic development efforts, which are generally undertaken in an attempt to create productive employment opportunities and to strengthen the local tax base. Unfortunatley, the economic development efforts of many communities, especially rural communities, are not productive ones. Many rural development efforts fail because…

This book is designed to provide an introductory understanding of challenges, goals, processes, and procedures for economic developers, particularly economic development volunteers, in rural areas and small towns. Chapter 1 defines economic development and basic terms. Chapter 2 describes major economic, social, and demographic trends that…

Written to help communities boost their economies by attracting new industries best suited for local workers, this guide discusses the kinds of employees used by different kinds of industry and highlights specific industry hiring preferences, attributes of various industries, and worker characteristics. (JHZ)

This guide was written for small and rural government officials who have limited experience with the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program and with federal grants in general. The use of outside expertise is often necessary in projects involving public facilities, housing, and economic development, some of the principal activities which…

Because schools are often the biggest employers in rural areas, it may make sense for rural schools to initiate economic development partnerships with the community, rather than wait for business to take the initiative, as is more commonly the case with urban school-business partnerships. This booklet reports findings of a national research…

"Where the money is and what you'll need to do to get it," form the central theme of this citizen's guide to rural development. Designed to assist a community leader interested in implementing a development project, the guide concentrates on the sources which most frequently fund rural community development projects, i.e., the grant and…

Extension personnel can aid rural decision makers with impacts felt from rapid growth in their communities via a locally applicable community impact model. This paper illustrates how extension professionals can utilize community impact models. Impact models reviewed include: model to measure the impact of new industry on rural communities in…

This handbook is intended for communities that wish to undertake their own community impact assessment (CIA). The goal is to enable communities to plan for changes before they occur, so they can cope with changes when they do occur. CIA involves forecasting and evaluating the full range of unintended consequences for the community of development…

One of a series, this handbook is designed to assist individuals involved in area development to gain knowledge and understanding of the public and private sources of funds for support of various area development activities. National, regional, and local private sector sources of development capital are examined to give an overview of business…

This document identifies steps in organizing and conducting a community survey and provides materials for assembling a well-focused survey form. Planning and conducting a successful survey involves the organization of a planning group, selection of relevant topics and information to be collected on each topic, preparation of a survey form,…