Reviving small towns Thursday, December 21, 2006 This week's Economist includes a good article on how small towns are reviving themselves. Read more. And here's a story from Bismark, North Dakota. Read more. 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. Jack writes a helpful blog here. You can read more background here. You can also explore economic gardening, a strategy developed by Chris Gibbons in Littleton, CO. Read more. The latest SBA annual report includes a chapter on economic gardening. You can download it here. Also check out what Burt Chojnowski is doing in Fairfield, IA. We recently held a gathering in Fairfiled to explore how newe models of rural entrepreneurship can be expanded. Read more. Them, of course, you need to follow the work of the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship. They have developed an excellent web site, called Energizing Entrepreneurs. You can access it here. You can subscribe to the Center's newsletter here. This excellent newsletter can keep you up on what is happening in the field. Rural entrepreneurship has become on of the most exciting areas of the New Economic Development. posted by Ed Morrison |		This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. links Some Background on EDPro Weblog The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it. One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information. So, spread the word...Share the knowledge. Tell a friend about EDPro Weblog. If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site: Here's the link if you are a bloglines subscriber: Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking. Background on Ed Morrison Download some background information on me here.

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