The Oliver community, only a couple of miles northeast of the city's business core, is just a sliver of East Baltimore that could be easily overlooked. Once a stable neighborhood filled with sturdy brick row houses, thriving churches and small businesses, Oliver declined--along with much of the city--over the course of several decades, beginning…

In a time of declining federal funding, partnerships that can leverage resources to accomplish complementary goals are vital to creating and maintaining successful communities. HUD's Office of University Partnerships (OUP) has fostered these partnerships by investing funds in institutions of higher education (IHEs), which use these grants to…

In the past decade, economic development experts have moved away from traditional approaches to economic development that have relied upon recruiting or attracting large businesses with offers of tax breaks, financial incentives, and other subsidies. Increasingly, communities are focusing their economic development resources on supporting the…

Describes various programs in Appalachia that offer small loans and extensive technical assistance and training to entrepreneurs that operate microbusinesses (businesses with five or fewer employees). Discusses the potential of entrepreneurs and microbusinesses to stimulate economic development in small towns and rural areas such as Garrett…