Economic Development Division Graduate Scholarship

Master's level students from PAB-accredited planning departments across the U.S. may apply. The $1,000 scholarship is awarded on the basis of a letter of recommendation from a full-time faculty member and an original paper or work having to do with a substantive and relevant topic related to economic development and planning. We prefer an article length or shorter paper submitted (not a thesis, although a shorter paper developed from the thesis is acceptable) of 2,000 to 2,500 words.

Application information will be posted in October, 2008 for entries due in February 2009.

Previous awardees include:

2008
Kelly Kinahan's article entitled "Leveling the Playing Field: Independent Retailers Co-existing with Formula Businesses in Downtown Commercial Districts" (Division Members: click on the links to read each article) appeared in the Spring 2008 issue of News & Views. The suburban growth that dominated the American landscape during the post World War II era through the recent past drained the life out of traditional commercial corridors across the nation. The proliferation of road networks, availability of inexpensive land, and cheap gas created the perfect storm, allowing large numbers of people to live in one place and work in another. In an effort to being reversing this trend, the National Trust for Historic Preservation created the National Main Street Center in 1980 with the mission of revitalizing the downtown areas of small towns across the country by restoring economic vitality to neighborhood business districts. As revitalization efforts have enlivened many once defunct commercial districts, and as outlying suburban markets have become saturated, national chain retailers are taking advantage of this resurgence along Main Street by locating their stores in traditional downtown settings.

2007 Recipient
Allan Mathew Freyer's "A Nonprofit Response to Economic Disasters: The Resources to Recover Initiative" appears in the summer 2007 News & Views. On July 31, 2003, the Pillowtex plant in Kannapolis, North Carolina, closed its doors, laying off more than 4,000 workers. The notion of the "economic disaster" was born, resulting in a high unemployment rate, a significant loss of local revenue, and emergency service and workforce development needs that overwhelm local resources. Drawing from plans and experiences with natural disasters, North Carolina developed a specific program model known as Resources to Recover (R2R) to address this economic disaster, which calls on nonprofits to play a critical role as labor market intermediaries, connecting dislocated workers to the workforce development resources they need for long-term recovery.

2006 Recipients
Janelle Santos of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill was selected for her paper titled "Planning to Sustain Small Farms: An Upgrading Strategy for Farmers and Institutions." Her paper appeared in the spring/summer 2006 issue of News & Views.

Honorable mentions were awarded to Janell Lee Allen, Chalita Brandly, and Sarah Klipfel Wiebenson. These papers are available here by clicking on their names.

2005 Recipient
Jessica Zenk of the University of California at Berkeley was selected for her work titled "The Arts as Economic Development: Three Successful Applications." Her paper appeared in the spring issue of News & Views.

2004 Recipient
Alisa Kane of Portland State University was selected for her work titled "Reclaimed Opportunities: Planning for Recycling-Based Economic Development." Her paper was featured in the summer issue of News & Views.