Resource: Report on rural clusters Monday, April 16, 2007 Building rural clusters -- a strategy that requires regional perspectives and practices -- holds the promise of building prosperity in rural communities. An important report, "Unlocking Rural Competitiveness: The Role of Regional Clusters", provides new tools and insights into how rural communities can build their economies. By studying this report rural EDPros can gain new insights into how their economies can transform. The Purdue Center for Regional Development, where I now hang my hat, collaborated with the Kelly School of Business at Indiana University on the project. Particularly important, this report pulls off the cover from cluster analysis. In the past, consultants developed their own largely proprietary definitions of clusters. This report outlines the analysis (including, for example, cluster definitions) and introduces some new tools for rural regions to understand their economies. For example, the study team developed the Index of Relative Rurality, a numerical value calculated for each of the nation's 3,108 counties. This index shows where each county falls on a rural-urban continuum and helps to identify locations where rural and metro areas connect. You can download the report and gain access to other important aspects of project on this web site. Look especially at the map section here. 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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