Economic Development in Rural Communities

I have been spending a good deal of time considering how best to proceed with the economic development process in my small corner of the world, Stokes County, N.C. We are unique in many ways but we also share the challenges of most rural communities: we have a shrinking manufacturing base, we have challenges in infrastructure and we have not established a firm identity.

What, then is the answer to the question that keeps me awake at night: How are we going to provide jobs to the bulk of our workforce, when the numbers say that in the future the jobs that pay a living wage are going to be under fierce competition. My solution at this point in time is a hybrid plan that works to develop broadband access to more of the community, works with small business and industry to develop a better understanding of web based marketing and provides them with the tools necessary to complete on the Internet, a branding initiative that helps our tourism community create a positive and strong message to our visitors and to create more opportunities for our tourists to enjoy the area. While all this is going on, with the help of many allies, we will be looking to improve our infrastructure and provide training and support to entrepreneurs.

I have been in dialogue with Rick Smyre concerning this for several months. Rick has spent the past 25 years exploring the business world from his perspective as a CEO of a textile company and more recently as the head of the Center for Communities of the Future. It is his belief that we are a a cross-roads of three different economies: The Industrial Age, The Knowledge Based Economy and a third, yet to be totally identified economy, which he calls the Creative Molecular Economy. I won't go into a lot of details of this, at this time, but the premise behind the third economy is that it will be fluid, fast changing and those that are adaptable will be in the forefront.

If he is correct and I think he is, it will be important for rural communities to be wired and have systems in place to take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves. It is a world that will change at a pace that boggles the mind. I don't have all the answers and am still not sure I understand it all but at least, I am trying to ask the right questions.