Rural communities in the Upper Midwest continue to experience economic restructuring, caused not only by area agricultural changes, but also by mining and local manufacturing shutdowns. Focusing on two states, Minnesota and North Dakota, this study details the repercussions, and response, of...

Literature reports that small and medium firms face greater difficulty in obtaining the necessary export market information and in obtaining financing than do larger firms. Accordingly, the United States has many export promotion and enhancement services, but there is little documentation on the...

competitiveness and innovativeness of companies and regions. The economic benefits achieved by companies participating in a cluster are varied and depend on the individual's experience, human and intellectual capital, organizational efficiency, etc. However, clusters are an important mechanism...