The relationship between institutions of higher learning and their local communities is often described as "town and gown." Few studies examine how these partnerships affect state and local public administration and local economic development. We analyzed data from the 2014 Economic Development Survey carried out by the International…

Linguists understand metaphors to be shortcuts to an individual's tacit knowledge about the world. As ethnographers and planners building a university-school partnership and seeking to understand residents' perceptions of their urban neighbourhood, attention to use of metaphor allowed us insight into an insider's mental model of who is in the…

Decorah, Iowa (pop. 8,172 in 2000), is, in many ways, a typical small Midwestern community facing many of the same issues as most other areas such as a brain drain and a continuing struggle to find ways to stimulate the local economy. Perhaps the strengths and successes of the approaches used in Decorah can be attributed to its ability to identify…

A survey of 135 small towns in Nebraska found that half had undertaken economic development projects; development activity and success were related to community size (with the smallest communities lacking both local resources and outside support); and most community leaders perceived their development efforts as unproductive. (SV)

This report identifies local factors that foster rural economic growth. A review of the literature revealed potential indicators of county economic growth, and those indicators were then tested against data for nonmetro counties during the 1980s using multiple regression analysis. The principal variables examined included demographic and labor…

Engelhard is a very isolated rural community in Hyde County, North Carolina, economically dependent on seafood, small scale agriculture, and logging. In the mid-1980s the agricultural crisis, the decline in seafood landings, and changes in timber industry technology contributed to rising unemployment. Several decades of declining population and…

Communities with a flexible, open leadership structure may weather energy booms better than communities with old-guard leadership cliques, according to a study of community governance in two small Texas towns. Although similar in location, ethnic composition, population, access to transportation, economic base, and importance in the county,…

Compares traits and attitudes of two Illinois farming communities with populations characterized as "German yeoman" and "Yankee entrepreneur." Discusses how community characteristics shape responses to social and economic changes and affect the course of economic development. (SV)

Effective rural education depends on active community involvement. This ethnographic case study examines three models of community organization as an explanation of how community action occurs. The three models are: (1) individuals interacting in formal and informal groups; (2) networks of "weak ties" effective for diffusing information and…

This manual represents an educational program designed for public officials, interested citizens, and professionals interested in improving the economic climate of the municipality or region. Its purpose is to teach economic development skills, thus enabling participants to develop community economic growth plans. Focus is on four essential…

Examines congruence of attitudes toward economic development between rural community residents and local government officials in rapidly growing northern New Hampshire. Profiles and compares survey subjects' sociodemographic characteristics, community tenure, and general attitudinal disposition. Results highlight substantive differences between…

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,…

This paper sketches several successful community economic development programs that have implications for rural education. Case studies are used to discuss community characteristics that contribute to development success. In Virginia, a Community Certification Program offers statewide business recruitment services to communities that meet program…

Background information and recommendations related to the support of child care services in Fort Wayne, Indiana is presented in six chapters. Chapter I discusses the feminization of the workforce and demographic data bearing on the need for child care, the child care workforce, and child care arrangements. Chapter II reviews child care services in…

As the concept of community is changing, emphasis in community analysis is changing from a geographic focus to examination of interest clusters within a geographic location. Village communities are declining while town-country communities are becoming more numerous. The suburban community is a recent development, and although it develops its own…