The National Center for Small Communities identifies best practices for other small communities to consider and exploit. Many of the lessons learned have relevance to communities of all sizes: the need for a champion; widespread collaboration or buy in; taking a holistic or multi-faceted approach; avoiding cluster approaches to economic development; and committing for the long haul of several years.
Link
http://www.natat.org/ncsc/Kauffman/BestPractices.pdf