Describes computer Industrial Impact Model used by Texas Agricultural Extension Service rural planners to assess potential benefits and costs of new firms on community private and public sectors. Presents selected data/results for two communities assessing impact of the same plant. (NEC)

Lists addresses, telephone numbers, and contact persons for each state data center plus those in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Describes available rural data and services (mostly free): informational assistance, computer tapes and printouts, maps, assistance using data, and information on new products. (NEC)

Profiles personal characteristics and employment of 1,131 long-term Kentucky residents (71%), early migrants (12%), and late migrants (17%) in 1979. Indicates early migrants, with 5-10 years residence, earned more, despite similar characteristics, than long-term residents and recent migrants. Identifies factors influencing wages for each group in…

Highway interchanges offer rural counties practically ready-made sites for development, but some interchanges offer better development opportunities than others. A study of a Kentucky interchange identified seven factors that make a difference in development, including traffic volume, distance to an urban area, ruggedness of terrain, and sale of…

Telephone interviews with 501 immigrants to 75 nonmetropolitan midwestern counties revealed that they favor development as long as it does not raise taxes. Older and less satisfied inmigrants supported expansion significantly more than did other newcomers. Younger, better educated individuals and women seemed more willing to assume added tax…

New data show small local firms create less than a third of new jobs in rural areas and are unreliable employment sources because many fail within their first 5 years of business. Local planners should consider mix of corporate affiliates offering potential of many jobs and small independent firms. (NEC)

Discusses service industries' role in developing economies of rural areas. Describes ways service industries generate employment and local income and blend with a local economy. Summarizes survey of contributions to local economies and what attracted them to their communities for 385 service firms in nonmetropolitan Wisconsin. Tables provide…

Through 1987, 10 percent of foreign investment was in nonmetro counties; 44 percent of this was in the South; and 38 percent of nonmetro foreign investment created new jobs (versus 17 percent in metro areas). Foreign investors chose nonmetro areas with low wages, lack of unionization history, good transportation access, and government incentives.…

Proposes reasons for the precipitous drop in the number of Black farmers since the 1950s. Today, most Black farmers have very small operations and are at an advanced age. A healthy rural nonfarm economy is essential to supplement farmers incomes. The Agriculture Credit Act of 1987 offers low-interest loans to Black farmers. (KS)

Reviews the history of Canadian rural development, comparing Canadian rural policy with U.S. rural policy. Canada's programs, although sharing some features with U.S. programs, are often delivered in a manner that emphasizes local planning and encourages rural areas to make a long-term commitment to integrating programs into a broader development…

Telecommunications can reduce rural isolation, improve access to education and services, and increase business efficiency. But urban and international competition may limit telecommunications benefits for rural areas and may possibly widen the development gap. Still, telecommunications are an essential part of rural development strategy.…

Describes an effective process for strategic planning of telecommunications in rural areas that includes a needs assessment and an action plan as well as input from businesses, public agencies, and households. Lists elements of a telecommunications needs assessment. Describes the planning processes used in Northeast Wyoming Economic Development…

Among nonmetro retirement counties, those with a relatively high (over 16 percent) proportion of elderly were economically much stronger than total retirement counties. Strengths of retirement counties included rapid growth in population and employment and moderate increases in income. Potential weaknesses were reduced public spending for…

Questions "supply-push" theory of rural development, which suggests that upgrading workers' skills will guarantee rural development. Data from past two decades show tendency of decreasing growth in job skills and in requirement for quantifiable job skills (e.g., level of education). Upgrading job skills by itself seems unlikely to pay…

In 1994, a multiagency service team, consisting of state and federal agencies, colleges, private consultants, and nonprofit organizations, was formed to coordinate delivery of technical assistance services to small manufacturers in Maine's wood products industry. Results were generally positive but showed the need to carefully match assistance…