Description
In Recast Your City: How to Save Your Downtown with Small-Scale Manufacturing, community development expert Ilana Preuss explains how local leaders can revitalize their downtowns or neighborhood main streets by bringing in and supporting small-scale manufacturing. Small-scale manufacturing businesses help create thriving places, with local business ownership opportunities and well-paying jobs that other business types can't fulfill.
Preuss draws from her experience working with local governments, large and small and illuminates her recommendations with real-world examples. She details her five-step method for recasting your city using small-scale manufacturing: (1) light the spark (assess what you can build on and establish goals); (2) find and connect (get out of your comfort zone and find connectors outside of your usual circles); (3) interview (talk to people and build trust); (4) analyze (look for patterns and gaps as well as what has not been said); and (5) act (identify short-term actions to help build long-term change). This work is difficult and sometimes uncomfortable, but necessary and critical for success. Preuss supports and inspires change by drawing from her work in cities from Knoxville, Tennessee, to Columbia, Missouri, to Fremont, California.
In Recast Your City, Preuss shows how communities across the country can build strong local businesses through small-scale manufacturing, reinvest in their downtowns, and create inclusive economic opportunity. Preuss provides tools that local leaders in government, business, and real estate as well as entrepreneurs and advocates in every community can use.
Product Details
| Publisher | Island Press |
| Publish Date | June 22, 2021 |
| Pages | 192 |
| Language | English |
| Type |  Paperback / softback |
| EAN/UPC | 9781642831924 |
| Dimensions | 8.9 X 6.1 X 0.5 inches | 0.6 pounds |
About the Author
Reviews
"Ilana Preuss dramatically illustrates how a critical-but-traditional part of cities can be revitalized and act as a catalyst to transform a community. This book outlines practical suggestions on how to re-imagine a vision for communities willing to reach for the future rather than maintain the status quo. A must read for everyone who cares about their community."--Tom Murphy, Senior Fellow, Urban Land Institute and former Mayor of Pittsburgh
"Ilana's book is a treasure for everyone who loves their city. It provides an actionable roadmap to revitalize downtowns in the modern economy. Ilana shows that by lifting up people who make things, and engaging the community to help, every city can generate impressive results. Recast Your City provides stories about how this approach has been successful in communities large and small."--Victor W. Hwang, Founder & CEO, Right to Start
"Preuss totally hits the nail on the head with her critique of misguided American economic development practices that favor chasing big businesses over cultivating small ones, that favor big real estate deals over smaller-scale investments in downtowns and neighborhoods, and that have left millions of people on the sidelines. She makes a powerful argument for the tremendous potential of small-scale manufacturers to transform economies through incremental, inclusive growth. Our communities would be much healthier and more equitable places if this book were required reading for all elected officials and economic development professionals."--Kennedy Smith, Senior Researcher, Institute for Local Self-Reliance and former director, National Main Street Center
"This book is a voice for economic development in places ready to build something new. It helps cities identify small businesses looking to scale, gives cities a new way to connect them to needed resources, and invites investors to be a part of something bigger."--Sandy Dunbeck, Interim Director of High Point Economic Development and Director of the Guilford County Economic Development Alliance
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