Chapter and verse on trends driving small town prosperity.

Why do some small towns prosper while others do not? What methods do local officials employ to successfully attract industry? How do some rural towns become tourist meccas?

These questions and others are addressed in Boomtown USA, the 7 1/2 Keys to Big Success in Small Towns, a new book just published by the National Association Of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) and the book's author, Jack Schultz, president of Agracel, Inc., an industrial development company based in Effingham, Illinois.

"The lure of small towns as a place to relocate is a win-win situation," says Jack Schultz, whose own town is depicted in the book as a community that rebounded from lean times to prosperity by attracting such companies as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Krispy Kreme and Bunge Foods.

"The technology revolution is already fostering the third great population shift--from the suburbs to the agurbs, as Jack Schultz calls it. This is the best book I've seen for identifying the small towns with the greatest opportunities for business, jobs and lifestyle," said Harry Dent, author of the Roaring 2000s, who previewed the book.

Boomtown USA examines how small towns best prosper by leveraging their resources and working with local and state officials to break through the "one company town" mindset to attract industry and create an environment that's appealing and conducive to conducting business operations.

In the book, Schultz identifies seven and one-half factors that small towns and their officials must employ to attract new industries and business relocations and encourage new business start-ups.

"Small town America as becoming increasingly attractive to businesses of all sizes. They often come equipped with a talented workforce, a lower tax base, an improved quality of living and, thanks to technology, the same ability to communicate and transact business as if you were in the downtown business district of any city in the country," said Schultz. Norm Miller, Director, University of Cincinnati Real Estate Center and a NAIOP Distinguished Fellow agrees. "With global competition forcing American companies to shave costs every place they can, it becomes obvious that if workers can find a more affordable quality of life and firms can find cheaper space, less bureaucracy and a community where everyone can make a difference, we should see smaller town growth accelerate in this third migration towards smaller cities.