• Strategic Planning for Community Development - Kansas State University Extension — Communities plan for the future by envisioning what the future will be. How will the future be different? What decisions can we make.
  
• Recruiting Manufacturing Firms as a Community Development Strategy – Purdue University Extension -- Community leaders must realize that rural communities that were once prime locations for firms seeking low-skill, low-wage labor, now face stiff competition in their efforts to attract new manufacturing investments.
  
• Coping Strategies of Successful Rural Communities - Kansas State University Extension — A shortage of housing was the most critical problem. Housing is needed to attract small industry.
  
• Speeding Adoption of New Technology in Rural America – Missouri State University Extension -- What sociologists have learned.  First, they have identified groups of people who are inclined to adopt new ideas at different rates.  Those earliest to adopt make heavy use of research and expert sources of information. Late adopters rely heavily on other farmers as sources.
  
• Shell Building Development – Ohio State University -- The construction of shell buildings can be an effective tool for communities to spur economic development.
  
• Economic Development Pyramid Approach to Building Healthy Communities - Kansas State University Extension — A good community is a place where everyone can readily acquire the means to pay for their basic needs, while pursuing higher.
  
• Volunteers and Community Economic Development – Oklahoma State University Extension -- This fact sheet reviews job creation strategies, discusses how community action plans are formulated, and addresses the role of volunteers in community economic development.
  
• Retention and Expansion: A Local Economic Development Strategy – Oklahoma State University Extension -- This circular explores the commonly overlooked economic development for Oklahoma communities and rural areas – retention and expansion of local firms.
  
• Critical Factors in Attracting New Business and Industry in Oklahoma – Oklahoma State University Extension -- The objectives of this fact sheet are to review the elements of an industrial recruitment program, important factors in industrial location, and changing national economy and new factors that will be important to industry and business location.
  
• Blueprints for your Communities Future; Creating a Strategic Plan for Local Community Development – Oklahoma State University Extension – Strategic Planning will Clarify the Process for Building a Local Foundation for Economic Development.
  
• Strategic Planning for Economic Development in Rural Areas and Small Towns in Oklahoma – Oklahoma State University Extension – Time spent in developing an economic development strategy will pay big dividends.

Plan Commission

• What Is the Plan Commission & How Does It Work? – Purdue University Extension -- The plan commission is an independent commission made up of private citizens with neither legislative nor administrative authority. It is an advisor to a governing body. It also advises local governmental departments and officials, public agencies, private developers, and other individuals on matters related to the community's development.
• Plan Commission – Purdue University Extension -- For a community, one of the ways to plan for the future is to make good decisions about how land is used and the ways in which our communities will grow.
  
• Plan Commission Public Hearings: A Plan Commissioner's Guide – Purdue University Extension -- It is important for plan commission members to understand that public hearings should only be one part of an overall commitment to public participation. When the plan commission and general public interact throughout the planning process, public hearings can be a more productive use of everyone's time and energy.

Community Development Tools

• Cluster Development – Ohio State University Extension – Due to the out-migration from urban areas to rural areas, planners, developers, and elected officials have created a number of tools designed to balance growth with the preservation of community environmental and financial assets.
  
• Small Business Incubators – Oklahoma State University Extension -- This fact sheet is designed to assist communities that are considering the development of a small business incubator.
  
• Evaluating your Economic Development Project – Oklahoma State University Extension -- This fact sheet discusses how to evaluate economic development projects in your community.
  
• The Comprehensive Plan – Purdue University Extension -- Communities need comprehensive plans-and the ability and will to implement them.
  
• How Good is your Comprehensive Plan? – Purdue University Extension -- A comprehensive plan attempts to bring definition to these features by considering land as a community resource. Land is no different from any other asset. There are uses for land that are more efficient than other uses.
  
• Gap Analysis as a Tool for Community Economic Development – Oklahoma State University Extension – Gap analysis is a method for assessing strengths and weaknesses of a local market.
  
• Economic Development Efforts; Recruiting Retirees – Oklahoma State University Extension – Look to retirees who migrate as an economic development tool.

Community Promotion

• Developing a Community Profile – Ohio State University -- A community profile is usually the first piece of information that an industrial firm (prospect) or a site-location consultant will obtain regarding a community's potential suitability as a location for an industrial facility.
• Hosting Industrial Prospects – Ohio State University -- The prospect visit is a crucial aspect of the recruitment process; the community must have a plan in place to make the visit successful.
  
• Planning and Conducting Effective Public Meetings – Ohio State University Extension -- Local government officials periodically conduct public meetings as part of the process of developing or explaining legislation and regulations.

Community Controversy

• Defusing Public Decision: A Way to Minimize Controversy While Facilitating Public Decision Making – University of Missouri Extension -- There are at least two sides to most issues. Sometimes when public decisions are involved, things that begin as a search for a better understanding degenerate into heated controversy.
• Leadership in the Public Arena - Kansas State University Extension — Identifies strategies to promote effective group decision making and action.
  
• Resolving Multiparty Disputes - Kansas State University — Focuses on structuring a process and shaping the environment needed to resolve public conflicts, for local government.
  
• Public Relations of Public Policy - Kansas State University Extension — Provides an overview of public relations for local government.