Democratic Rural Conference of New York State

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The Voice of Rural New York State

Economic Development

Economic development in rural communities has become a perpetual challenge for public officials. As a general matter, current progressive thinking in the economic development field is centered around small business development and entrepreneurship, and operates on the following principles:
  1. Rural economic development requires long term strategic thinking; not much can be accomplished within the time frame of a single, two-year election cycle.
  2. Using scarce resources (usually in the form of tax incentives) to lure large manufacturers into rural communities (i.e., "smoke stack chasing") has proved expensive and ineffective in the long term.
  3. Key concepts include: think local first, use existing local resources (e.g., schools, libraries) first, encourage community engagement and buy-in
The following web sites provide relevant information and resources for economic development:

Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development
nercrd.psu.edu/

Southern Tier East Regional Planning Development Board
www.steny.org/

Business Alliance for Local Living Economies
www.livingeconomies.org

Center for Rural Affairs
www.cfra.org/

International Economic Development Council
www.iedconline.org/

NY State Small Business Development Center
www.nyssbdc.org/

Women's Business Centers in NY
www.awbc.biz/Directory_List.asp#NY

Center for Rural Entrepreneurship
www.ruraleship.org/

Empire State Development
www.empire.state.ny.us/

New York State Economic Development Council
www.nysedc.org

U.S. Small Business Administration
www.sba.gov

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Business and Community Development
www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?navid=BUSINESS_DEVELOPMENT&parentnav=RURAL_DEVELOPMENT&navtype=RT


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