The task of bringing high speed Internet to America's rural communities remains a challenging and painfully unfinished one, aggravating the existing economic and social divides these communities face. To help address this challenge, certain rural energy cooperatives (RECs)—including...

Progressive farm managers often find themselves managing people as much or more than they manage animals and equipment. This dramatic change for farm owner/managers is very challenging because most have little experience and no education in the management of critical human resources. Rural...

This project will focus on a digital media strategy for The Southwest Michigan Planning Commission (SWMPC) to improve awareness, consensus building and action, related to current topics of policy importance for economic development. In particular, this project will include a network analysis to...

Connect Michigan has been leading the way to bring the economic and quality of life benefits of broadband to all Michigan residents. This report explored the opportunity for hands-on, on-site technology training for Michigan small businesses and suggests a model for local...

A varied array of local economic development policies and programs are available to local Michigan communities, but local leaders can be confused about how they can be utilized in their own community. One way to solve for this was through use of online resources.  A suite of online...

This economic development data collection and marketing project stemmed from the collective focus of two organizations, LSCP and UPCDC, which determined that business attraction and marketing were needed for the 15 Upper Peninsula (U.P.) counties. Business attraction and marketing are capital and...