Many rural communities have benefited from the attraction of retirees in recent years. With the baby boom generation beginning to make retirement decisions, many other rural communities might consider economic development strategies based on attracting and retaining retirees. This report reviews...

Over 60 percent of rural manufacturing establishments benefited from government business assistance programs (State and local tax breaks, training and technical assistance, loans, and industrial parks/enterprise zones), and 28 percent found these programs to be very important to their operations...

Current proposals would convert many domestic assistance programs into Federal block grants to be administered by State governments. Block grants give States broad discretion on how Federal funds are spent. In theory, this can lead to program improvements, reduced administration costs, and lower...