Business Retention/Expansion

Farmland Legacy Workshops
Planning Today for Tomorrow's Farms
Planning the future of your farm can be a difficult and emotional task. The Farmland Legacy Workshops will help in the planning process by providing valuable resources for all generations. Topics will include family communication, business and estate planning, record keeping, conservation easements, and much more. Let the workshops help you start the dialogue with your family and plan today for the future of your farm. Find out more information and register at their website.

Tennessee Industry Clusters and Economic Performance, 2001–2006: An Application of Value Chain Analysis Using County–Level Panel Data
PAPER PRESENTED AT THE 47TH SOUTHERN REGIONAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION MEETING, ARLINGTON, VA, MARCH 28 – 30, 2008
Identification of industry clusters is essential in the design and implementation of regional economic development strategies. Value chains establish and support the composition of industry clusters. This research develops an econometric model that empirically identifies value chains in counties and their impact on county economic growth. The findings are important for local policy makers facing a bewildering array of decisions regarding small business retention and expansion, fostering entrepreneurship, or to execute campaigns to recruit larger firms. The methodology is appealing to researchers by combing nonparametric cluster analysis with recent advances in spatial econometrics.
D.M. Lambert, L. Stewart, M. D. Wilcox, and K. Jensen
Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville