Publications
CBER Publications
Retail Analysis of Taylor County, 2000-2005
Monty Lynn
August 2006
A comprehensive analysis of retail trade and related services in Abilene and Taylor County. Overviews the performance of the retail overall from 2000-2005, and examines retail sub-sectors pull in residents of other counties and which are "leaking" sales outside Taylor County. The place of retail in economic development is discussed.
2006 Economic Outlook (pdf)
Monty Lynn
February 2006
An overview of recent population and economic trends in Abilene and Taylor County, with an economic outlook for 2006.
2005 County Viewbooks (click on county links below for pdf files)
Monty Lynn and Forrest Oswald
November 2005
A county snapshot of economic and population trends, including job creation, income, education, poverty and other measures in an easy-to-read and understand format.
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We are pleased to make available selected research relevant to West Texas. If you know of regional research that might be of economic development interest, please email us at lynnm@acu.edu:
Winds of Prosperity (pdf)
Perryman Group, May 2010
Work Force Analysis of the Abilene (TX) Area (pdf)
Carter & Burgess for the Abilene Industrial Foundation
April 2006
Abilene Business Climate Survey (pdf)
Ray Ferguson and Sharon Earnest, Condley and Company
December 2005
Making It: What it Really Takes to Live in Texas (pdf)
Center for Public Policy Priorities
September 2002
Texas, Our Texas (pdf)
Perryman Group, November 2002
The Catalyst for Creativity and the Incubator for Progress: The Arts, Culture, and the Texas Economy (pdf)
Perryman Group, January 2001
Want to learn more about economic development? Here are some of our favorite books:
Community Development
Smart Communities: How Citizens and Local Leaders Can Use Strategic Thinking to Build a Brighter Future, by Suzanne W. Morse. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2004
An inspirational overview of community development, filled with inspiration and lessons learned from American communities, large and small
Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community's Assets, by John P. Kretzmann and John L. McKnight. Chicago: ACTA Publications, 1993
A hands-on guide to community development, illustrating how to identify and capitalize on human, economic, and physical assets in a community
Economic Development
The Community Economic Development Handbook: Strategies and Tools to Revitalize Your Neighborhood, by Mihailo Temali. St. Paul, MN: Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, 2002
An excellent how-to create book on economic development strategy; special attention is given to revitalizing commercial districts, developing microbusinesses, developing a community workforce, and growing good neighborhood jobs
Planning Local Economic Development: Theory and Practice, by Edward J. Blakely and Ted K. Bradshaw. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2002
An academic overview of economic development, providing a grounding in theory and practice; topics among the 14 chapters include: Selecting a local economic development strategy, locality development, analytic techniques for planning local development, and the high-technology economic development strategy
Local Economic Development: Analysis and Planning, by John P. Blair. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1995
An academic overview of economic development, well written and with easy to understand quantitative tools; topics among the 13 chapters include: Business location, land use, housing, resource flows, and economic structure
Economic Indicators
The Secrets of Economic Indicators: Hidden Clues to Future Economic Trends and Investment Opportunities, by Bernard Baumohl. Philadelphia: Wharton School Publishing, 2005
Want to dig into the meaning of various economic indicators such as employment, consumer spending, and housing starts? This book makes the numbers and lingo make sense
Entrepreneurship
Energizing Entrepreneurs: Charting a Course for Rural Communities, by Deborah Markley, Don Macke, and Vicki B. Luther. Lincoln, NE: RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship and Heartland Center for Leadership Development, 2005
How to bring entrepreneurship to a rural community written from the perspective of the economic development leaders
Planning
Rural by Design: Maintaining Small Town Character, by Randall Arendt, Elizabeth A. Brabec, Harry L. Dodson, Christine Reid, and Robert D. Yaro. Washington, DC: American Planning Association, 1994
Widely respected, this is the planner's bible for rural areas
Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Community Geography: GIS in Action, by Kim Zanelli English and Laura S. Feaster. Redlands, CA: ESRI Press, 2003
Designed as a manual for students to study their community, modules include mapping crime, noxious weeds, water quality, harmful landfills, transportation routes and more.
Related Links
- Abilene Job Forecast, USA Today
- Atlas of Rural and Small Town America, USDA
- Texas County Population Change (pdf), 2010 Census
- Economic Profile (pdf), TX Workforce Com
- Abilene Economy, Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Abilene Real Estate (pdf), Texas A&M
- Texas Ahead, Texas Comptroller
- Regional Economic Data, Dallas Fed
- Texas Economy, Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Labor Market Review, Texas Workforce Com
- Economic Indicators, US Census Bureau
- U.S. Economy, Bureau of Economic Analysis
- Energy Outlook, Energy Info Admin
- Economic Calendar, Econoday
- The Financial Crisis, St. Louis Fed
- Data, Blogs and Tools, NABE
