January 23, 2004

"Best Practices" For Small-Town Economic Development

Jeff Cornwall links to a best practices guide for how small towns can support and encourage entrepreneurial economic growth. Cornwall calls it "a very comprehensive guide for effective and sustainable economic development."

I especially like this part about what small-town governments should do to make it easier for business to flourish:

Much of a community’s work with entrepreneurs will not be about designing new programs. Smart government agencies also work to ease the creation and growth of new firms. Simplified licensing procedures and streamlined rules and regulations ... fit this category.

Entrepreneurs from all regions feel strongly that governments should act more like businesses. In other words, governments must act faster, be more transparent, and be more flexible. How can government make it simpler to comply with legitimate regulations? Can government reduce the number of forms and offices small businesses must contend with? And can the nightmare of multiple regulations by multiple jurisdictions be made less severe? Compliance with uniform regulations with one or relatively few government offices is what entrepreneurs want.