The Local Economy                                                                                         FUTURE

THE KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY

Analysts believe that as much as one-half of the current output produced by modern industrialized countries can be classified as output of the "knowledge economy."  In the words of Jason Henderson, senior economist at the Center for the Study of Rural America of the Kansas City Fed, such output is derived from the ability of people to "...combine education, experience, and ingenuity to power growth."  

While large metropolitan areas appear to be leading the economy in this direction, smaller communities and more rural areas also have the potential to contribute to, and benefit from, such a trend.  Untapped pools of skilled labor and entrepreneurial talent reside underutilized in many areas, including our own.  The intent of this section of the web site is to begin to examine how the local economy "measures up" in terms of its participation in the knowledge economy, and to compile data and tools that will allow us to  monitor this dimension of local economic activity with more precision in the future.