By Stephanie Allen, Project Assistant. I first heard of the idea of local currency while visiting Ithaca, NY nearly a decade ago when I was in college in New York State. I thought it was a quaint idea for such a supportive community of aging hippies, college students, and professors, but I didn't think much at all about the economics involved. Recently I was talking to two friends from graduate school, and we somehow stumbled into a conversation about local currency. These guys both use...

By Christa Tinsley, Project Associate.   Incentives in Georiga have triggered another “race to the bottom.” While communities still clamor to be awarded the labels of Main Street community, Certified Work Ready, Certified Green Community, Entrepreneur Friendly, All-American City, and other designations, many Georgia cities are willfully adopting a new label – slum.   A recent story   in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution discussed municipalities in...

 By Christa Tinsley, Project Associate.   Many of the more rural communities and regions we work with are underserved in retail. Often they complain of having to drive to the next city or county when they want to eat out at a restaurant that does not serve fast food, or when they need to shop for school supplies or professional clothing. In many cases, the community lacks the income levels to attract a national retailer, so residents must pay sales tax to support the...

By Alex Pearlstein, Senior Project Manager.    The provision of incentives is one of the most controversial issues in economic development today and likely will be for a number of years to come. As the competition for relocation prospects intensifies so will the resources applied to influence companies’ decision-making. While much research exists decrying the awarding of significant incentives to large employers, still more will tout the economic benefits of a major recruitment win such...

By Alex Pearlstein, Senior Project Manager.    The iconic film “Field of Dreams,” shot in the humble cornfields of Iowa, has turned out to be a veritable phenomenon, with tourists continuing to make their way to Dyersville to see the  ballfield that still exists, cut from the acres of stalks in this Northeast Iowa town. However, Iowa’s dreamy field has recently turned into a nightmare as a major controversy regarding film incentives has crippled Iowa’s Department of...

By Alex Pearlstein, Senior Project Manager.  So says the Dayton Daily News in an editorial titled “What’s it mean to lose NCR?” The NCR referred to is a Fortune 500 company that develops cash registers, bank ATMs,and airline check-in kiosks.  NCR and its over 1,200 jobs were recruited away from Dayton, Ohio (announced June 2) by the state of Georgia and a community in Market Street’s neck of the woods, the city of Duluth in Gwinnett County.  Georgia ponied up a whopping $60 million...