rural economic development:

... a process of creating wealth while improving the quality of life for people in an area that is sparsely settled and/or primarily agricultural. As elsewhere, an economic development effort in a rual areq requires thoughtful networking and a managed plan for distribution of useful information to prospects. Whatever there is that is unique about a certain area should certainly be promoted but the most important information to have at hand is a profile about the place that is its hub of transportation and commerce—the community at the center or the rural economy.

The creation of jobs is not a high priority is areas where the laborforce is shrinking as those who are unemployed and young people move away. On the otherhand, developing and maintaining an infrasturce to attract opportunities for the underemployed has proven to be worthwhile in many rural areas with potential. The buzzword, penturbia, enjoyed a brief exposure in the spotlight as certain rural areas were identified for their potential to move toward urbanized development. The installation of high-speed Internet lines (broadband) in rural areas by telephone companies that have access to economic development incentives is an example of technology put to use. Politications and ecoomic developers, however, need to recognize that the advent of the Internet as a technology for rural development is more likely to attract the entrepreneur as an independent worker than it is to create jobs en masse in the traditional way.

Working with a rural infrastructure of potential first means making changes in the factors of production as they exist so that they can facilitate economic development. Selecting a non-urban area for economic development in essence means identifying an area community and factoring in its laborforce for productivity as well as its leadership along with the land, capital, and technology. The area community is likely to have population centers that are identifiable as communities unto themselves—crossroads communities

The rural laborforce becomes human capital. Rural development in this regard is a process of restructuring and growing an economy in a way that enhances the well being of an area community in total. This definition of rural development may also double as a definition of rural community development or community economic development.

that- of a national, state or local economyapplies to sparsely settled or agricultural creation of jobs and wealth, and the improvement of quality of life. Economic development can also be described as a process that influences growth and restructuring of an economy to enhance the economic well being of a community.

rural development:

Definition of rural development in the Enterprise and Economic Development Glossary.

See the answer below to the question, what is rural?

Rural contacts in position to supply location data about places wanting economic development have the opportunity to list in the three websites of The Network for free. To take advantage of this opportunity rural development representatives, anywhere in the world, should either apply for a record in the Global Registry of Contacts. GRC database applications are processed without cost or obligation; also records are organized and maintained in the database for free.

Community development is defined in the Enterprise and Enterprise and Economic Development Glossary. Community development and rural development may appear.as categories of location data in promotional material prepared by area and local development representatives wanting to stress that programs are available. Community Development is a section of the Enterprise and Economic Development Library that has information and resource for those who are interested in local and rural development. Also, The Network defines community profile, pointing out here that the same description applies to rural development profile; i.e. the latter is defined as ... a format for presenting facts about a rural location. Community profiles and rural development profiles can both be useful, for example, as site selection resources and are likely to present information under location data categories as such.

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What is rural?

The UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) has a resource paper published online titled A Review of Urban and Rural Area Definitions. It indicates that coming up with a definition of rural is a challenge. Look on page 15 of the report if you want details.

Wikipedia offers information about rural development.

The Free Dictionary by Farlex defines rural area—The Network defines area development.

Several years ago the World Bank reported that ... 75% of the world's poor live in rural areas ... stating too that its approach to rural development is ... holistic and multi-sectoral, focused on improving the well-being of rural people by building their productive, social, and environmental assets. Although the link to the website where the quote was found was broken when last checked, the website of the National Audit Office of the UK has a publication title, Tackling rural poverty in developing countries, which mentions the 75% figure.

World Bank / Agriculture & Rural Development Group:

Resource: Topics in Development

Resource: The Enterprise and Economic Development Library links to WB resources.

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economic development in small communities and rural areas

One key to success is to organize and maintain a best practices approach. Another is to define economic development specifically for the wants and needs of the area, taking into account what can be accomplished as a practical matter within the range of resources available. The most effective approach that leaders of small communities and rural areas can take in reaching out for opportunities is networking. Economic development at all levels is more likely to thrive when there is an ally network—see Priorities for Places Seeking Economic Development.

The website Horizon Local section of the website, www.globenet.org has a resource paper titled: One minute guide to economic development for remote and rural small towns .

The paper is made accessible here as a result of a on page 6 (definition of community) of an introduction to economic development. Understanding how community development and economic development work together is one of the keys to success in organizing a best practices approach to bringing positive change wanted in locations with rural demographics.

15 considerations:

If at all possible, any location seeking economic development opportunities should ...

have at least one area and local development representative working on its behalf.

coordinate regionally—lists its city-region in Site Location Assistance.com.

create goals and programs that are uniquely its own, not copy or envy what others have.

build ally network and be optimistic, but realistic, in seeking support.

avoid shoring up enterprises past their prime with subsidies. Encourage entrepreneurship.

seek long-term solutions rather than quick fixes.

inform, educate, and include all facets of the community.

not allow its lead development representative to be a vested interest's liaison.

develop and maintain a prospect-oriented infrastructure as well as create/offer incentives.

be poised for action with information (see the definition of location data supplier).

be poised to provide assistance in finding sites and resources as well as cutting red tape.

protect confidential plans and actions of prospects until they are ready to announce.

operate with contributed funds wherever possible.

recognize job creation opportunities may be trumped by those for creating local wealth.

keep the looks of the area inviting and attractive (see the definition of livability appeal).

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rural development online:

Use the Google/.network search engine to find resources for small community and rural development by copying and pasting the following suggested keyword combinations (italicized) in its search box. A search tool for querying the Web only is at the top of this page.

Search the Web for ... common denominators success rural economic development

Search the Web for ... resources success rural economic development

Search the Web for ... small communities rural economic development resources

Search the Web for ... small community rural economic development basics

Search the Web for ... rural development incentives entrepreneurial

Search the Web for ... rural economic development incentives location*

Search the Web for ... rural development incentives entrepreneurial location*

* substitute the location identity for a place of interest to you for the italicized word location.

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livability appeal:

... a promotional statement about what it's like to live in an area. Adjectives may be added to advertising that implies a location ranks above others in terms of quality of life.

Rural areas are sometimes perceived to have livability, especially by urban dwellers who long for greener pastures. What is an urban dweller? He or she is someone living in urban sprawl (an urbanized area). Metropolitan areas have an inherent problem with livability because, without commerce, they lack the basics of sustainability that can be attributed to many rural communities. Residents of micropolitan areas enjoy the less urbanized and more rural aspects of where they live. Real estate developers on the periphery of urban areas sometimes seek to capitalize on the rural appeal by the way they name their residential communities.

The definition of city-region relates to some of the comments above.

The Smart Growth Resource Library which lists livable cities in the US, as provided by www.mostlivable.org, states that the latter website's definition of livability has changed over a the years. Standard dictionary definitions have remained unchanged, however. For example, Merriam-Webster Online states that livability means ... suitability for human living .

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labor shed:

... a commuting pattern which is usually represented in the form of a map. AKA a commute shed, the shed feeds into where the jobs are. For example, workers coming into a community to report to their job from a surrounding area are said to be in-commuting. Workers regularly leaving a community to report to their jobs elsewhere, are out-commuters. Use the search engine at the top of this page by copying and pasting the following italicized text lines. If you have a place of interest in mind, substitute it identity for the word location. Keyword combination suggestions: "labor shed" location,"commute shed" location, "labor sheds"(keep quotation marks).

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Conserving Communities by Wendell Berry:

The resource paper written by Berry in the mid-1990s presents 17 rules that guide communities in avoiding the modern economic and social harms of development. The rules are published in various locations on the Internet (example), in some cases independent of Conserving Communities and his other writings. For example. Amazon.com has chapter one of Berry's Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community, titled Conservation and Local Economy, available online. FMH Search contains a file that paraphrases most of the rules and adds information for those who are interested or engaged in rural enterprise and economic development.

The FMH Search file: http://www.findmehere.com/search/infohelp/berrypoints.htm

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types of economies:

A global economy supports enterprise and economic development across international borders. A regional economy (definitions of region) can operate on a global scale without consideration for international borders. Global regions are listed in the locations section of the library with suggestions for keyword searches that relate to the mission of The Network.

CLICK HERE for a list of various types of economies with links to their definitions.

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location sustainability:

The basics of community sustainability are water, food, and shelter in a livable environment. Appendix F of the Enterprise and Economic Development Glossary has more information—links.

Places in non-industrialized regions around the world where people can directly access the basics have the best chance of long-term viability, for example, farm communities in rural areas where productive environments are maintained out of harms way.

Growth and development in rural areas can be a double-edged sword. The promise of a higher quality of life may be offered in rural areas; however, it is predicted that growth and development will exhaust resources. Transitions from agrarian to urban life exacerbate the predicted situation while quality of living declines for disturbingly larger percentage of the population.

Perhaps the first indicators of non-sustainability are the generation of demographics that classify families as poor or, in the case of communities, run-down neighborhoods—in the cities its the increase in the number of street people or the rise of ghettos. In the paragraph above, it is indicated that productive environments need to be maintained out of harms way. Harm comes in various ways, such as destruction by war or brought about by natural causes.

The first obvious signs of change to come in location that give rise to concerns about sustainability are brought about by the development of commerce. The following is a quote from a resource paper of The Network which also addresses some economic development basics.

Somewhere centuries ago a community decided to celebrate, and a festival was born. Vendors sensed that people would gather and be in a mood to buy their wares. Townsfolk realized that visitors from afar would need places to rest. Someone knew enough to organize the event and, if that person was a visionary, he knew that revelers would pay to watch the sun go down, that is if accompanying food and music were provided.

Visitors beat new paths to the community. Paths turned into roads. Vendors decided that the festival was sustainable, so they stayed on, calling the place where they gathered to do business the market. The community now had a commercial center. Dwellings that offered hospitality became inns and eating-places. The sun was reliable in its setting. This was the place where (economic development) was born (source or quote).

Sustainable development is a process that maintains community development momentum in a location for an extended period. In terms of the global economy the phrase has come to mean that first consideration is given to the wants and need of the community so that local economic development occurs without taking away what future generations will need to carry on. The Enterprise and Economic Development Glossary defines sustainable community. Imbuing in the minds of student practitioners that concern for community sustainability is of importance should be something that those who teach economic development basics take seriously.

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What is a community profile?

It is a location profile ... by narrow definition, a presentation of facts about a community seeking economic development, i.e., information organized to promote a place to economic development prospects. In the broader sense a profile of a locale or development region used to inform or promote to prospects and which typically shows information categorized, for example, see page 2 of the series about site selection in Site Location Assistance.com. The page lists various categories of location data typically used in the production of the type of profile defined here.

The question is who does the enterprise developer or site selector obtain a location profile from? The answer in general terms is a location data supplier. See page 4 of the series about economic development in the Economic Development Network website. The page is a guide to the various sources of information about places of interest to users of The Network. Area and local development representatives are generally credited as being the originating sources of location data in that they are at the point where the rubber meets the road in terms of enterprise and economic development. See comments under the definition of community profile in the Enterprise and Economic Development Glossary to learn how area and local development representatives can arrange for links to where they have location data published online for prospects.

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sustainable communities:

The following attributes of a sustainable community are paraphrased from a webfile of the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance. Sustainable community is defined in the The Network glossary under its local economic development.

Sustainable communities ...

acknowledge that economic, environmental and social issues are interrelated.

acknowledge that the above issues should be addressed holistically.**

recognize the sensitive interface between a natural and man-made environment.

understand polluting, wasteful practices and move to shift from them.

understand their natural, cultural, historical and human assets and resources.

take actions to protect and enhance their assets and resources.

consider the full environmental, economic and social impacts of their existence.

consider the full environmental, economic and social impacts of development.

nurture the wants and needs of citizens through collaboration and participation.

promote resource conservation and pollution prevention.

focus on improving community health, livability, and quality of life.

act to create value-added products and services in the local economy.

CLICK HERE for a review of best practices for places wanting economic development if your interest is in using the attributes listed above for guiding your community in its implementation of plans for pursuing opportunities and the accommodation of prospects.

** the community as a whole. ESCR-Net.org, the International Network for Economic, Social & Cultural Rights website, addresses holistic and sustainable development of communities. For more about holistic development of communities and sustainability copy and paste the following italicized keywords in the search box at the top of this page and Google.

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location seeking economic development:

... a place wanting to attract.the attention of prospects. See the definition of places seeking economic development; also, see the definition of location.

Places seriously seeking opportunities are likely to either have the attention of external organized efforts willing to work on their behalf or have their own locally organized efforts. In the latter case, any place seeking economic development, needs to have an ally network.

To paraphrase John Donne (No man is an island). No location seeking economic development can be an island, i.e., if success is to be expected.

A definition of economic development in www.economicdevelopment.net states that the process is one of ... increasing the flow of capital through the community (from outside) and reducing its leakage (source of quote). The Network uses the term enterprise and economic development in conjunction with its mission statement. Site selection as a process of enterprise development produces prospects for locations. When a site selection prospect chooses a location and starts up the project operation, the result is an inflow of capital.

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