Economic Development

Businesses – and the people who start them and work for them – create jobs and compete in the global marketplace. Accordingly, a state’s success depends largely on the smart people and new discoveries keeping its industries globally competitive. Any state serious about competitiveness has to be serious about policies and investments that foster smart people, smart ideas and the right environment to promote innovation.  This means investing in research and development (R&D) funds, supporting the educational institutes that produce both cutting-edge research and a skilled workforce and investing in commercializing the new discoveries and technologies that lead to new products and new companies.

Entrepreneurship in States: Fostering a Startup-Friendly Economy

Summary The National Governors Association (NGA) released a comprehensive report, Entrepreneurship in States: Fostering a Startup-Friendly Economy. States are increasingly devoting more attention to an important, yet sometimes overlooked, tool ...

State Summit on Opportunity Zones

June 19-20, 2019 | Annapolis, MD NGA Solutions: The Center for Best Practices hosted NGA’s first-ever State Summit on Opportunity Zones. This was a collaborative effort between NGA Solutions, NGA ...
Rural Prosperity Through the Arts & Creative Sector

Rural Prosperity Through the Arts & Creative Sector

Summary A partnership between NGA Solutions: The Center for Best Practices, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA) introduced an extensive ...

NGA Offers Strategies for Creative Sector to Revitalize Rural Communities

WASHINGTON — Struggling rural communities have found new life through smart public policies that boost the creative sector, the National Governors Association said in a report and action guide that ...

The Growing Importance of the Arts to Rural America

Published in Governing. We're all too familiar with the stories of rural areas that didn't rebound from the last recession, where families are struggling to make ends meet and prospects ...
NGA 2019 Winter Meeting

NGA 2019 Winter Meeting

Session videos from the National Governors Association Winter Meeting 2019 which took place Feb 22-25 in Washington, D.C. View Full Playlist ...
Governors Build Global Ties, Stability in Challenging Times

Governors Build Global Ties, Stability in Challenging Times

Originally run on RealClearPolitics.com. By Scott D. Pattison Over the past several years, the leaders of America’s 55 states, territories, and commonwealths have taken more prominent roles on the world ...
NGA Urges Passage of Farm Bill

NGA Urges Passage of Farm Bill

The National Governors Association issued the following statement after the Senate’s passage of the bipartisan, bicameral 2018 Farm Bill conference report: The nation’s governors applaud the progress conferees and Agriculture ...

Letter to Congress regarding urgency of passing Farm Bill

Letter from the National Governors Association, National Association of State Departments of Agriculture and National Conference of State Legislatures to congressional leadership regarding the urgency of passing a new Farm Bill ...