Creating Rural Jobs
Today people are deciding where to live and bringing jobs with them. Many people are now either moving or considering moving into rural communities because of quality of life issues and the high cost of living in
Some communities are revitalizing their downtown and creating opportunities for music and the arts in an effort to create a cultural climate where interesting and innovative people want to work.
The Internet is changing the way we do business, companies that produce and supply knowledge are able to operate in a space rather than a place; they don’t have to be clustered together in a big metropolis. This gives companies a high degree of mobility and freedom from having to be in any given location, which in turn gives them the opportunity to live and work wherever they want.
Technology fuels sustainable economic expansion - creating high-wage jobs, world-class exports, and productivity. Information and computer technology allows employees to work from a location which is remote from the central office. Jobs such as data management, medical transcription, customer service, claims processing, software engineers, project managers, and writers can easily work from home or a remote office.
Due to the high cost of living, office space, and traffic congestion in large cities, it makes sense for companies in those areas to out-source a portion of their workload to people that can either work from home or in a remote office in a rural community.
According to an article by Area Development Online, all 700-reservation staff members of JetBlue Airways work from home. Another example is Sun Microsystems, a major IT systems provider with headquarters in
Industries which rural communities could target are:
Advanced Manufacturing — Manufacturing of Pharmaceuticals, Semiconductors, Electronics, and Advanced materials such as High-tech Plastics Resins, Composites, Fibers, Ceramics, and Medical Manufacturing.
Product Agriculture — According to an article by the Center for Consumer Freedom, Biotechnology will increase the nutritional value of foods produced by increasing the vitamin and mineral content of crops grown. Biotechnology in agriculture will bring hope to those in the developing world by providing crops that are more tolerant of drought and more resistant to insects and weeds, thus increasing farm production.
Biofuels- Biofuels such as methanol and ethanol are also excellent alternative fuels; mainly because they are renewable and can provide new economic opportunities for agriculture. Ethanol can be produced from various vegetable sources like corn and potatoes.
Between 2001 and 2007,
Green Energy- Green energy technologies are technologies that enable environmentally friendly sources of power; including renewable and ultra-clean energy sources. Green technologies include but are not limited to: Solar power, Wind power, Fuel cell technologies, Small-scale Hydropower, Tidal and Wave power, Geothermal power, Biofuels, and Biomass.
Tourism — Rural communities can provide visitors with the experience of the rural lifestyle, recreation, and scenic views that only rural communities can provide. Bed and breakfasts, guest ranches, hunting lodges, hiking trails, and fishing camps attract visitors.
Donald (Dawayne) Flor
Economic Development Marketing (EDM)
(800) 595-7052 (619) 585-7052
dflor@econdevmarketing.com
www.Econdevmarketing.com
Donald Flor
Economic Development Marketing (EDM)
(800) 595-7052 (619) 585-7052
Nice to know someone is thinking about us in the rural communities