Bloomberg Opinion columnist Noah Smith recently discussed the big dividends for American industry that came out of technologies developed with the help of U.S. government-led research efforts from agencies such as DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). While lamenting the lack of an equivalent agency to deal with economic challenges, he references the Fallowses’ documentation of cities that are finding success in rebounding from economic and other challenges.

Furthermore, Smith writes, the Fallowses found that, “the strategies they use often look similar — cultivating public-private partnerships, leveraging nearby universities, developing new local tentpole industries and revitalizing their downtowns.”

He reasons that a U.S. office of industrial policy could compile, analyze, synthesize and share successful strategies as well as connect local leaders and furnish seed money for academic research centers.

This sharing of the most effective and dynamic ideas being put into practice in cities across the country is also the objective of Jim and Deb’s talks in Our Towns Events across the nation.