A policy brief just released by the C. William Swank Program in Rural-Urban Policy titled "A Bigger Bang Approach to Economic Development: An Application to Rural Appalachian Ohio Energy Boomtowns" looks at an innovative development program used in Centralia, Washington, after it suffered through difficulties faced by its traditional economic mainstays. This was exacerbated by stagnation in another key local economic anchor, i.e., logging and sawmills. Facing devasting hits, Centralia embarked on a strategy of supporting small businesses through a grant program managed by the powerplant’s owner. The utility’s rationale was to avoid a very expensive retrofit of the Centralia powerplant (and Washington State is mandating a rapid end to fossil fuel use). The goal of the brief authored by Dr. Mark Partridge, professor and chair of the C. William Swank Program in Rural-Urban Policy and PhD candidate Nick Messenger, is to examine whether Centralia’s data from this program can be effective in places like Appalachian Ohio’s oil and gas communities.
