How NC Mountain Communi...

We often hear about "industry clusters" as a driver of economic development – groups of interdependent businesses in the automotive sector, health care, wood products, manufacturing, etc. But rarely do we think about smaller clusters, of local foods, music or, in this...

Crooked Road Builds Mus...

From the always-excellent reporters at Making Connections News comes this story about how Southwest Virginia is building up its economy around its musical mountain heritage: All Appalachians know our region is rich in music – but this doesn't always translate in to money for...

Mountain Music Fuels Vi...

From Voice of America: The tiny mountain town of Floyd, Virginia has one traffic light. Only 500 people live here year-round. But there's a festival atmosphere on Friday evenings, especially in summer. The Floyd Country Store is crowded with a few hundred people from out of town...
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