|
Mar 12
2009
|
|
|
Small Towns, Big Ideas is the result of an intensive, yearlong effort to identify and document the stories of small towns that are surviving -- and, in some cases, thriving -- as hubs of civic and economic activity. The Small Towns, Big Ideas project began in mid-2006, when the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Government partnered with the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center to identify small towns that were implementing successful or innovative approaches to community economic development.
Fairfield, Iowa was one of the communities selected because of our unique approach to Entrepreneurship and Downtown development/revitalization. A copy of the Fairfield case study can be downloaded by clicking here. To see what other progressive small towns like ours are doing to improve their community download the entire publication by clicking here.
The publication includes stories about planning and implementing economic development strategies in 45 small towns with populations of fewer than 10,000 residents. Case studies also describe a range of strategies for building local capacity for economic development, including innovative organizational structures, partnerships, leadership development and finance. Most case studies include discussion of more than one strategy.