Research Reports

In 2008, the Center for Rural Pennsylvania published the first Transfer of Wealth (TOW) analysis of Pennsylvania to spark conversations about the magnitude of the assets present in every county of the commonwealth and the opportunities to invest a small portion of those assets toward community betterment projects. Since that first analysis, much has changed in Pennsylvania and the U.S. This TOW study integrated those changes into its estimates, as well as historical trends and key assumptions about the future, to develop more current estimates for this intergenerational transfer of  wealth.

The Main Street Program has had a role in community revitalization in Pennsylvania since 1980. As of 2010, there were 165 programs initiated in Pennsylvania. This research explored the viability and sustainability of Main Street Programs (MSPs) in Pennsylvania and developed policy  considerations to support their continued viability and sustainability. For the research, sustainable programs were defined as those that had stability in leadership, governance, finances and staffing. The research, conducted in 2010, used existing data from the Pennsylvania Downtown Center (PDC) and the U.S. Census, and new data from a mail questionnaire of Main Street managers and site visits to a selection of programs throughout the state.

This research was conducted to profile clients of Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers (SBDC). Using 10 years of data (2000-2009), which included demographic variables such as gender, race, ethnicity, veteran status, and handicapped status, the researcher profiled rural and urban clients and compared their use of SBDC services.

Throughout Pennsylvania, rural residents have taken on leadership roles to support and promote their communities and their residents. The challenges these leaders face continue to become more complex, as economic, political, social, cultural and even global forces influence local events. This research was conducted to understand how a sample of rural residents assumed their leadership roles and how they developed their skills to address the ever increasing challenges that impact their communities.

The study on the transfer of wealth (TOW) in Pennsylvania was completed to provide estimates on the amount of personal wealth that is likely to be transferred from one generation to the next from 2005 to 2055. It was completed to spark further conversations about the magnitude of the assets present in every county of the commonwealth and the opportunities to invest a small portion of those assets toward community betterment projects. The researchers completed the TOW analysis for all 67 Pennsylvania counties and the state as a whole.