Building Resilience Through Community Champions: The Role of Local Leaders for Rural Economic Development Capacity and Diversification

Local government reform has accelerated since the early 1980s, with local governments learning to adjust to changes in responsibilities as they cope with the socio-economic restructuring pressures that are challenging the viability and sustainability of small communities. Rural areas also have rich access to natural resources, which can provide an initial benefit to the local economy but can hinder economic diversification opportunities. The future resilience of rural local governments and their communities may depend upon entrepreneurial strategies to support independence, resilience, and new pathways to economic renewal. The purpose of this paper is to identify the role local leaders have for rural economic development capacity. Specifically, this paper highlights communities that have experienced economic transitions and have remained resilient. These findings help fulfill a research gap in rural local governments and path dependency and provide potential application for rural local governments.