Historically economic development was centered around recruitment: economic development professionals would contact businesses in other communities and other states, enticing them to relocate through providing incentives of low taxes, available workforce, and cheap land. Research by national non-profits like the Kauffman Foundation have shown that these strategies are rarely effective for rural communities, especially in regions like ours, where we lack access to an interstate highway, major freight airport, a deepwater port, or abundant and inexpensive raw natural resources.
