Community Connections News Release
How to Succeed at Economic Development
May 2, 1997
by Jan L. Flora, Professor and Extension Sociologist,
and Jeff S. Sharp, sociology graduate student,
Iowa State University Extension to Communities
What distinguishes communities with successful economic
development from those that are less successful? This question
prompted our nationwide study of 711 rural incorporated
communities and counties. Twenty-eight of these localities are in
Iowa. Thirty-seven percent of localities responding reported no
successful economic development project in the past 10 years.
These localities were compared with the remainder that had
succeeded at some form of economic development.
Most successful projects could be classified as either industrial
recruitment or self development (locally initiated, locally owned
and at least partially locally financed). Some communities had
both. We tested to see how the localities that had succeeded at
economic development were different from those that had either
failed or not even tried.
The good news is that rural communities need not be on an
interstate highway or in the shadow of urban skyscrapers in order
to generate positive economic activity. The less than good news is
that there is no easy-to-follow recipe for positive economic
growth.
We found that successful communities were more likely to have:
- a newspaper that reported community issues fairly, rather than
engaging in biased reporting or not reporting community issues at
all.
- a rivalry with another community. (We expected this to be
negatively related to having a project but, apparently, the
absence of a rivalry may indicate the absence of much social
organization at all, while having a rivalry implies some degree of
collective identity for the community, an important aspect of
social capital.)
- a financial institution that contributes to community projects
by providing one or more of the following -- commercial or low-
interest loans; grants or donations or other in-kind
contributions; lending personnel to the effort; and/or providing
marketing or technical assistance.
- linkages with other communities and organizations, including
sending a delegation to another locality, participating in a
statewide competition and participating in a national competition.
- joint facilities with other localities, such as a solid waste
facility, a hospital or industrial park.
- joint efforts with other localities on particular issues such as
solving an environmental problem, acquiring technical assistance
or leadership training programs.
- membership in regional organizations, such as councils of
government, community college districts, etc.
- membership in state/national organizations, such as the League
of Municipalities, National Association of Counties and others.
Our findings provide support for the ideas of Robert Putnam, a
Harvard University political scientist, about the importance of
social capital, particularly elements that emphasize inclusion and
diversity, for successful economic development efforts. Social
capital involves networks of people who trust and have mutual
obligations among each other. Many of the items listed above are
examples of social capital -- networks of diverse groups of people
(including newcomers and people with different points of view) who
share a common interest in their community.
Programs such as Iowa State University's "Building Communities for
Tomorrow" are explicitly designed to enhance social capital and
entrepreneurial social infrastructure, while encouraging community
and economic development. This is accomplished by bringing all
social groupings in the community to the table; engaging in
participatory research, in order to empower community members to
assess issues and options on their own; and by developing an
action plan that can be bought into by all parts of the community.
For more information about the
Building
Communities for Tomorrow program, contact your local
county
extension education director.
Contacts:
Jan Flora, ISU Extension
Sociologist, (515) 294-4295
Terry L. Besser, ISU
Extension Sociology, (515) 294-6508
Del Marks, ISU Extension
Communication Systems, (515) 294-9807
Back to Community Connections Menu
Extension to Communities Home
Last update: November 18, 1997