The payback for historic preservation is important as communities look to incorporate adaptive re-use into their downtown revitalization efforts and preserve the architectural heritage of their center cities.

Categories: Quality of Life
Tagged: Downtowns, Economic development, Historic Preservation, Livability, The Atlantic Cities,

BNSF Railway’s Matt Rose says the rail business and the U.S. economy run on parallel tracks. In 2006, the rail business reached a record high. In 2009 – the height of the Great Recession – rail hit an all-time low, losing 26 percent of all units carried. 2010 saw an increase of about 10 percent, and 2011 is tracking about a 5 percent increase, though the econd half of the year has been much slower.

Categories: Research
Tagged: BNSF Railway, Economic development, infrastructure, Matt Rose, Rail, regulations, Texas Economic Development Council, transportation,

Site selection professionals emphasize that local economic development professionals need to be prompt in their responses when asked to supply information – and to make sure they understand the details and follow the requirements of formal requests for proposals.

Categories: Site Selection
Tagged: Economic development, quality of life, RFPs, Site Selection,

Developing a culture of entrepreneurship in a small community presents unique challenges but great opportunity.

Categories: Entrepreneurship
Tagged: Economic development, economic development organizations, RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship, rural development,

Companies are recognizing the importance arts and culture play in attracting highly skilled and talented workers to their community.

Categories: Quality of Life
Tagged: Arts and culture, Cultural economic development, Economic development, Quality of Place,

The numbers don’t lie but do they always tell the full story? A white paper presented today at the International Economic Development Council 2011 conference argues that communities should be concerned with more than numbers when trying to capture new investment and attract talent.

Categories: Research
Tagged: Economic development, Quality of Place, research,

We’ve launched BusinessClimate.com to give corporate relocation and economic development professionals a portal to keep up on national trends, research major industry categories and learn about innovative companies.

Categories: Research
Tagged: BusinessClimate.com, Economic development, quality of life, Quality of Place, Site Selection,