Today the Town of Pulaski and its partners officially announce Launch Something Pulaski, a downtown economic revitalization project aimed at supporting new business formation and expansion in the downtown businesses district and beyond. Through a highly competitive and rigorous process, Launch Something Pulaski will award more than $70,000 in cash and in-kind prize packages to 3 or more of the most promising new businesses.

Our core challenge lies in putting it altogether within a cohesive strategy. Here’s a look at the seven themes, some examples of how they’re working in Pulaski, and suggestions on how a coalition might help foster more economic opportunity in downtown Pulaski.

When my community economic development organization, Beans and Rice, Inc., hosts university alternative break volunteer groups we always include an economic tour of Pulaski County. The tour’s goal is to contextualize the students’ service learning experience within a wider geopolitical, historical, cultural, and macro-economic perspective. It provides volunteers with analytic