From the Desk of the Editor in Chief
The Harvest Moon comes in October this year, so we can’t think of a more appropriate time to present our annual Editors’ Location Picks.
According to folklore, the first farmers in the United States were able to work into the night by the light of the Harvest Moon. With fields illuminated by the giant reddish orb hanging low and large just over the horizon, they gathered corn, pumpkins, squash, beans and wild rice—staples they learned to grow from Native Americans.
We’ve gathered the fruits of an entire year’s worth of coverage of the economic development landscape, taking special care to pick the cream of the crop. These are the growth leaders. Some of them are perennials, but all have weathered a brutal spring and summer business climate that threatened to wither even the healthiest and hardiest locations.
This year’s location picks have not just survived—they’ve thrived. And the economic caretakers who are tilling these productive fields have made sure to leave plenty of fertile ground for robust future growth. Even as they harvest this year’s bounty of new jobs, they are busy planting seeds for the jobs of the future.
We invite you to sample some of the tasty selections in our harvest basket, from scenic Roanoke, VA, where an historic railroad line is giving way to a new economic engine, to Tucson, AZ, where it rarely rains and the locals literally are harnessing the power of the sun.
Enjoy, and savor.
