Small towns as "Investment Ready Places"

Date: Wed, Jul 10, 2013 at 6:59 PM

We have the "largest untapped potential."  View this email in your browser Howdy, This week, I wanted to share the idea of "Investment Ready Places." That is a new description of small towns and mid sized cities, from the team at Street Sense. "Mid-tier towns and cities are our most dynamic urban settlements and have the largest untapped potential for fostering economic growth. They vary in size from a town of a few thousand people to small cities with a couple hundred thousands residents. They are small enough to be affected by incremental change and large enough to afford opportunities to create substantial impact. They provide us the stimulus of direct action followed by relatively quick, tangible change." They've put together a report introducing the concept of Investment Ready Places. They also have a checklist that guides you in evaluating your small town's potential, and a map of places that have completed the IRP checklist. The checklist divides towns into four categories, from good enough to attract other investors all the way down to "look elsewhere." (I agree that not every small town can be saved.) If you evaluate your small town using the checklist, you might want to list it on their map that they call the IRP Locator. Want to learn more? Head to the Investment Ready Places page. Cheers, Becky