ABSTRACT
The most prominent early intentional development project in the United States designed for economic improvement began when Alexander Hamilton visited Paterson, New Jersey, in 1778. Local economic development is an ongoing process, where problems are resolved, not solved, because current solutions give rise to new problems to tackle as competitive factors change. In 1913, the Industrial Workers of the World and local socialists staged the “Paterson Silk Strikes” advocating an eight-hour day and better working conditions. Industrial recruitment or what became called the “attraction strategy” focused on manufacturing because manufacturers were expected to have the greatest positive impact on local economic growth. Most economic developers know that economic base theory is the theory that rationalizes industrial recruitment. Urban and regional theory recognizes the mutual relationship between the location of population and the location of employment. State and local economic developers agree that the 21st-century economy has become far more complex.
