Rural Prosperity in the South

Southern Growth Policies Board (SGPB) has just released its new report, The New Architecture of Rural Prosperity, which builds on the premise that the prosperity of the rural South is crucial to the prosperity of the South as a whole.

SGPB puts forth two recommendations for building rural prosperity. The first recommendation is to expand the view of economic development beyond industrial recruitment to include community-building activities as part of the actions that create, expand and recruit business to the rural south. Among other things, this means that economic development should operate within the context of quality of life. The second recommendation urges that economic development activities be managed along regional lines, without regard to traditional or state boundaries.

Good advice. Not exactly new, but sound advice. Most importantly, more people need to take these recommendations to heart and reinvent their ED programs.

The New Architecture of Rural Prosperity also includes action items for states and communities to build rural prosperity, an analysis of the research and recommendations from rural economic development experts and profiles of successful rural initiatives in the Southern region. Download the executive summary.