Innovation New Jersey
  • Home
  • Our Coalition
    • Contact Us
  • News
  • Resources
    • State Supports
    • Federal Supports
    • Higher Ed Supports
  • Join Us

Innovation News

Everything Innovation. Everything New Jersey.
Follow us and stay connected.

Recent Research: Best Practices in Rural Economic Development

12/6/2015

0 Comments

 
Washington D.C. - According to SSTI, "Across the globe, the proliferation of innovation-led economic development is typically viewed in an urban context. Despite cities receiving the bulk of the attention, researchers have begun to focus on how to leverage best practices in rural economic development. Just as is the case in nearly all economic development scenarios, practitioners and policymakers working in rural areas benefit from a better understanding of local strengths and opportunities, according to new research from the United States, Canada, and the European Union."
​As part of its 10-year growth strategy Europe2020, the European Union added the concept of smart, sustainable, and inclusive growth to its innovation policy agenda. In What is Smart Rural Development?, four Swedish researchers analyze how the European policy on “smart growth,” which refers to innovation policy rather than urban planning attempts to mitigate sprawl, can best be applied to rural areas. The researchers distinguish between rural areas located close to cities and integrated within metropolitan systems and peripheral rural areas with much weaker demand from cities.
Overall, they find three key determinants of smart rural growth:
·         Agglomeration: The authors suggest that smart growth in rural regions is still driven by agglomeration economies and that smart rural development is greater in rural regions that are more similar to urbanized regions.
·         Amenities and creative economies: Rural areas that are endowed with amenities (e.g., natural amenities, built amenities, social amenities) as well as creative and vibrant local communities have better growth potential compared to other areas.
·         Networks and collaborations: Because urban areas have innate advantages in firm networking and collaboration, those rural areas located on the peripheral are faced with unique challenges. Improvements in information and communication technologies infrastructure are critical in helping rural areas access external knowledge. The authors suggest that smart the connectivity of firms and organizations within a region boosts technological specialization and supports entrepreneurship.
 
In Is There A Best Practice? A Better Understanding of Local Economic Development in Rural Ontario, Andrew Redden from the University of Waterloo provides formal advice for rural municipalities, especially those in Canada, interested in pursuing a local economic development strategy. Informed by a series of surveys and interviews, Redden finds four essential starting points for delivering economic development services in rural areas. First, Redden suggests the importance of acquiring a solid understanding of the local community’s market and assets and the development of an economic development strategy that clearly reflects the local assets and advantages. Second, Redden emphasizes the importance of hiring a full-time economic development officer. For improved economic development efficiency, Redden suggests communities should recognize existing organizations in the community and avoid the duplication of effort. Finally, Redden suggests that rural areas should partner with neighboring municipalities to participate in regional consortiums. Given the limited resources of municipalities, regional efforts allow groups to pool money, staffing, and expertise to attract investors they would be unable to individually.
 
Writing in Governing, Maury Forman, a senior manager for the Washington state Department of Commerce discusses key elements from Startup Washington, the department’s rural strategy. Startup Washington focuses on organic job growth in communities across the state and serves as a clearinghouse of information and resources for entrepreneurs, including funding sources, training and technical assistance, mentorship, education and information. According to Forman, the program is rooted in five services considered by small businesses to be essential to their success: access to capital; networking; mentorship; technical assistance; and education and training. Similar to the lessons learned in Canadian and EU rural economic development, Startup Washington’s programs have proven to work the best when they serve as a complement to other local economic development activities.  
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Do not miss a single innovative moment and sign up for our newsletter!
    Weekly updates


    Categories

    All
    3D Printing
    Academia
    Acquisitions
    Aerospace
    Agriculture
    AIDS
    Algae
    Alumni
    Animals
    Architecture
    Astrophysics
    Autism
    Awards
    Big Data
    Bioethics
    Biofuel
    Biomedical
    BioNJ
    Bioterrorism
    Bit Coins
    Brain Health
    Business
    Camden
    Cancer
    CCollege
    Cellular
    Centenary
    Chemistry
    ChooseNJ
    Climate Change
    Clinical Trials
    Cloud Tech
    Collaboration
    Computing
    Congress
    Coriell
    Council On Innovation
    Crowdfunding
    Cybersecurity
    DARPA
    Defense
    Degree
    Dementia
    Dental Health
    DOC
    DOD
    DOE
    Drew
    Drones
    Drug Creation
    Einstein's Alley
    Electricity
    Energy
    Engineering
    Entrepreneurship
    Environmental
    FAA
    Fairleigh Dickinson
    FDA
    Federal Budget
    Federal Government
    Federal Labs
    Federal Program
    Finance
    Food Science
    Fort Monmouth
    Fuel Cells
    Funding
    Genome
    Geography
    Geology
    Global Competition
    Google
    Governor Christie
    Grant
    Hackensack
    HackensackUMC
    Healthcare
    Health Care
    HHS
    HINJ
    Hospitals
    Immigration
    Incubator
    Infrastructure
    International
    Internet
    Investor
    IoT
    IP
    IT
    Jobs
    Johnson & Johnson
    K-12
    Kean
    Kessler
    Legislation
    Logistics
    Manufacturing
    Medical Devices
    Med School
    Mental Health
    Mentor
    Microorganisms
    Molecular Biology
    Montclair
    NAS
    Neuroscience
    Newark
    New Jersey
    NIFA
    NIH
    NIST
    NJBDA
    NJBIA
    NJ Chemistry Council
    NJCU
    NJDOLWD
    NJEDA
    NJEDge
    NJHF
    NJII
    NJIT
    NJMEP
    NJPAC
    NJPRO
    NJTC
    Nonprofit
    NSF
    OpEd
    Open Data
    OSHE
    OSTP
    Parasite
    Patents
    Paterson
    Patients
    Perth Amboy
    Pharma
    POTUS
    PPPL
    Princeton
    Prosthetics
    Ranking
    Rare Disease
    R&D Council
    Report
    Resiliency
    Rider
    Robotics
    Rowan
    Rutgers
    SBA
    Seton Hall
    Siemens
    Smart Car
    Smart Cities
    Software
    Solar
    Space
    SSTI
    Startup
    State Government
    STEM
    Stevens
    Stockton
    Subatomic
    Supports
    Sustainability
    Taxes
    TCNJ
    Teachers
    Telecom
    Therapy
    Thermodynamics
    Transportation
    Undergraduate
    USEDA
    Verizon
    Video Game
    Virtual Reality
    Water
    WHO
    William Paterson
    Women In STEM
    Workforce Development

Home   Coalition   News   Resources   Events   Join Us
Picture
Innovation New Jersey Coalition
10 West Lafayette Street
Trenton, NJ 08608-2002
609-858-9507