Dr. Nesse understands economic development is a multifaceted endeavor that impacts local businesses, public budgets, individual residents, and the character and reputation of a place. She has researched economic development practice (specifically the process of attracting new business investment) and practiced herself as a consultant to the City of Urbana, Illinois and Flint Hills Regional Council.

Local Business. Dr. Nesse has had long term experience in community development and working with local businesses. She became interested in urban planning and development through her volunteer work with JP Centr-South Main Streets in her Boston neighborhood in 2002. She volunteered as a liason between the businesses and the design committee. She would meet with businesses and help them through the grant application process to secure money for facade improvement from the organization. Since then she has worked with local businesses in her role as a consultant in St. Paul, Minnesota, Urbana, Illinois, and Manhattan, Kansas to document and develop plans for city and regional economic development. Businesses are at the heart of economic development and maintaining good working relationships will result in better informed policy.

Place Character. Recently, Dr. Nesse authored a paper (with Brooke Ferguson and Timothy Green) about the process of attracting craft breweries that are expanding. They concluded that once the basic site needs have been met, craft breweries are trying to distinguish their brand. Cities that appeal to the brand's image are more successful.

K. Nesse, T. Green, B. Ferguson. Forthcoming. Quality of life in potential expansion locations is important to craft brewers. Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy Read More →

Individual Residents.  Businesses are not the only drivers of economic activity. Individuals drive demand for goods and services but also bring money into the economy as well. Dr. Nesse looked at how to quantify the impact of nonwage income -- income from pensions, retirement accounts, investments, and transfers like TANF and WIC -- are major contributors to some economies. In most places, this type of income makes up 10 to 15 percent of all economic activity. However, in some places it can be a quarter or more of the economy. In a place where the largest "industry" is nonwage income, it is necessary to approach economic development in a different way.

K. Nesse. 2014. Expanding the economic base model to include nonwage income. Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, 44(2): pp. 93-108. Read More →

Public Budgets. In her dissertation, Dr. Nesse analyzed how school district budgets were impacted by immigration in small Midwestern towns and how the school districts changed their policies in response to the immigration. In addition, she has analyzed the implications of business attraction decisions for public finances. One of her most cited works (co-authored with Ann Markusen) describes four different ways to characterize the "competition for capital." Each of the ways of framing the competition has a different management strategy and budget response.

K. Nesse. 2012. How do we know? Determining school district fiscal and administrative policy in rural Hispanic boomtowns in the Midwest. Thesis for Doctor of Philosophy. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Read More →

A. Markusen & K. Nesse. 2007. Institutional and political determinants of incentive competition. In Reining in the Competition for Capital, Ann Markusen, ed. Kalamazoo, Mich.: W.E. Upjohn Institute. pp. 1-41   Read More →

Flint Hills Economic Development District Dr. Nesse worked with the Flint Hills Regional Council and an advisory committee of elected officials and representative of the 7-county region to craft the federally-required Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy.