The New Corporate Frontier: The Big Move to Small Town U.S.A.

• Author: Hawn, Jan

The New Corporate Frontier: The Big Move to Small Town U.S.A. is a book about business trends, the movement of businesses to small towns in the United States and the role small towns have in supporting businesses in the future.

The author, David A. Heenan, points out that the trend for business is to move out of the big city and into "panturbia," defined as "small cities and towns, and subdivisions, homesteads, industrial and commercial districts interspersed with farms, forests, lakes and rivers." These areas are not within commuting distance of central cities (defined as having at least 50,000 people). Technology, particularly in communications, has made the shift to panturbia possible.

Heenan claims that panturbia represents the American dream. He identifies the numerous advantages of the movement into panturbia: freedom from traffic congestion and pollution, an opportunity to purchase more affordable housing, reduced crime rates and better public schools.

Heenan discusses the urban renaissance of the early 1960s when major cities undertook efforts to revitalize themselves, receiving support from business to redevelop downtown and waterfront areas. These efforts resulted in convention centers, skyscrapers and sport complexes. By the middle of the 1980s these efforts slowed. Central cities competed with suburbs and panturbs in the public-private partnership as major corporations fled from the central cities.

Heenan describes the trend facing the nation's central cities. For example, New York City had 130 Fortune 500 headquarters in 1960; by 1990, that number dropped to 43. Chicago had 43 in 1960 and 22 by 1990. As illustrated, the bigger cities were losing out. Who are the winners? Using the census, Heenan notes that the winners have been the Sun Belt and panturbia. He provides examples of the "winners" in his book: Naples, Florida; Olympia, Washington; Portland, Maine; Des Moines, Iowa; Fort Collins, Colorado; Peoria, Illinois; and others.

This type of city benefits from this movement in several ways, including tax revenues, expenditure efforts, employment opportunities and prestige. The benefits to business abound as well. Cheaper labor, reduced occupancy costs and favorable tax rates are among the advantages highlighted by Heenan. Employees in panturban communities also benefit, and better jobs, education and homes allow business to attract an adequate work force.

Addressing the Age of Minimalism, Heenan describes small as beautiful...