Much has been written about individual communities across the United States and how they have either developed or revitalized their local economies over time. The focus in such volumes has typically been on the specific causes of economic decline and what strategies have been successful for those individual cities, counties, and regions around the country. This book presents a fully comprehensive look at what all communities - large and small, urban and rural - can do to grow and sustain their local economic bases. It examines the causes of economic decline for localities as well as the economic "product" being marketed to employers, the process of growth, and the means of sustaining economic growth over time. Exploring many facets of growth and re-growth following periods of economic decline and offering practical, real life examples of strategies that have been successfully employed in local and regional economies across the US, this book is required reading for community planners and administrators, those currently working in public administration, and students studying regional planning or economic development.