Category: Research and Resources

The National League of Cities (NLC) is an organization comprised of city, town and village leaders that are focused on improving the quality of life for their current and future constituents. With nearly 100 years of dedication to the strength and advancement of local governments, NLC has gained the trust and support of more than […]

Lessons Learned Seven themes emerged from stories in Small Towns, Big Ideas. These themes are offered as take-away lessons for other communities hoping to learn from small towns with big ideas. Learn More.

Since 1977, Chief Executive has been the independent voice of the CEO community, helping America’s business leaders tackle their most pressing issues and plan for future growth. Learn More.

CEOs have become pretty set in their perceptions of the business climate in many states, especially those on the east and west coasts. But there’s still lots of movement in what company chiefs see as the business-friendliness of many other states, and CEOs’ conclusions are being driven by new factors ranging from the rise of […]

A leading international marketing agency for more than 60 years, DCI is a full-service and highly specialized marketing firm with expertise in economic development, tourism and talent attraction marketing. The team of in-house creative placemakers develops, designs and executes marketing campaigns that attract more visitors, business and talent to our client destinations. Learn More.

Due to a perfect storm of demographic and labor force conditions, “talent attraction” has become a common term, no longer used only by human resources professionals, but also by city, region and state leaders to refer to their efforts to grow and retain their working-age population. Learn More.

Heartland Forward is a think and do tank and resource for states and local communities in the middle of the country. We do this by studying broad economic trends and building data-driven and community-tested partnerships, programs, and policies to address the needs of the Heartland. Learn More.

The Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Center for Transformative Placemaking aims to inspire public, private, and civic sector leaders to make transformative place investments that generate widespread social and economic benefits. Learn More.

Placemaking.Education is a collaboration between Town Team Movemen PlacemakingX. Over 2,700 people from 102 countries have taken a course or downloaded a resource since it launched in 2022. Our purpose is to: Gather and curate the most important placemaking concepts, suggestions and lessons learned into one place to make it easier and faster for people to learn about placemaking Learn […]

Economic growth in the United States in the 21st century has concentrated in fewermetropolitan areas that account for a disproportionate share of jobs, research anddevelopment (R&D), innovation, investment, and business growth in high-techindustries. This urban-led growth, driven by innovation centers and the creative class,has been well documented and is exacerbating a rural–urban divide unlike any […]