COLUMBUS OH, A policy brief just released by The C. William Swank Program in Rural-Urban Policy attempts to answer the question of why some rural communities thrive and others might lag behind by examining two rural-Ohio success stories: Holmes and Mercer Counties. Both Holmes and Mercer Counties have fared better than the average rural Ohio or rural U.S., even though both counties faced structural disadvantages.
The goal of the brief authored by Dr. Mark Partridge, professor and chair of the C. William Swank Program in Rural-Urban Policy, Dr. Seung-Hun Chung, Research & Policy Development Associate at Cornell University, and Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics at The Ohio State PhD candidate Sowon Kim is to provide a manual for rural communities to engage in evidence-based successful economic development strategies rather than continuing to rely on the same failed strategies and hoping for different outcomes.
What sets the counties apart is the use of their own assets within the communities, which doesn’t depend on economic development strategies or tax incentives to bring large firms to the counties. Both Holmes and Mercer Counties have utilized their relative advantages from the dominance of small-sized firms and entrepreneurs, robust links between local educational institutions, government agencies, and the business community, and strong social connectedness in developing a combination of (1) improved economic fundamentals that increased the number of jobs, and (2) enhanced household quality-of-life (QoL).
Both counties are relying more heavily on smaller firms compared to larger firms to bring and keep people in their communities. In the brief, it explains why this focus on small/new firms has a bigger local bang due to their being more labor-intensive and profits remaining local since their supply chains are less likely to go global.
The research suggests that successful economic development can be achieved through government initiatives such as creating a small-firm friendly environment, supporting human-capital and skill development, enhancing local QoL, and incentivizing regional economic development across counties. Importantly, this success is largely driven by rural communities taking the lead by using their own assets.
Sources/Contacts:
Mark Partridge, partridge.27@osu.edu
Sowon Kim, kim.7139@buckeyemail.osu.edu
Seung-Hun Chung, sc3343@cornell.edu
Citation:
Chung, Sueng-hun, Sowon Kim, and Mark D. Partridge. "Rural Success Stories and Economic Prosperity: The Case of Holmes County and Mercer County Ohio." Swank Program in Rural-Urban Policy Summary Report, March 2024.