Local and regional economic development leaders and organization face several headwinds when it comes to sustaining and growing their economies. This session will showcase valuable work being done to inform and guide communities/regions of creative ways to grow and diversify economic development activities. One project focuses on the expansion of entrepreneurial opportunities among women and minorities – two under-tapped assets in rural and urban places. The second project offers insights on the mix of talent/workforce skills needed to support the sustainability and expansion of core industry clusters in regions in the U.S. The final project notes the growing opportunities for recreation and tourism as a component of local and regional economic efforts. It makes notes of the significant opportunities that exist for the land-grant university Cooperative Extension System and researchers to work in partnership with communities to grow their recreation economies in a sustainable manner. The proposed session aligns well with the theme of the 2025 CDS Annual Conference. It offers new ways to build and/or sustain thriving economies – building on the place-based assets of places. PANEL PRESENTATIONS: Session Organizer/Moderator: Lionel “Bo” Beaulieu, Purdue University Project 1: Factors Affecting Female and Minority Entrepreneurs and Rural Economic Vitality Heather Stephens & Xiaoyin Li, West Virginia University Women and Blacks experience lower self-employment rates in rural regions, despite their significant contributions to local economic prosperity. This project examines this under-explored issue and offers new insights into the set of factors influencing entrepreneurship among underrepresented groups. Results highlight the importance of place-based and group-focused programs to foster entrepreneurial ecosystems. Project 2: Exploring Skills-based Occupation Clusters in U.S. Regions Indraneel Kumar, Purdue University Regional industry clusters have been popular in the U.S. for many years. Now, it’s workforce development, talent attraction, and retention have emerged as critical to long-term economic vitality. This project sheds light on the skills-based occupational needs of key regional industry clusters, information vital to supporting regional economic development innovations. Project 3: Growing Recreation Economies: Regional Action Strategies Douglas Arbogast, West Virginia University The outdoor recreation economy has become of increasing importance to local communities. But the capacity of the nation’s Land Grant Universities (LGU) to support local recreation and tourism has been limited. This project assesses LGU capacity to support recreation economies. Findings show significant opportunities for LGUs to partner with communities.
