Rural counties across Tennessee look at the big cities and ask: "Why can't we have that?"

Alex Green from Rhea County Economic Development used to ask the same thing.

He was jealous of West Tennessee's Blue Oval plant, but then he realized he was chasing the wrong opportunity.

Rural counties can't win by copying urban playbooks. They can't compete on scale. But Rhea County has something other places don't:

• Established businesses that are invested in expanding locally
• A tourism economy that brings 40,000 visitors in one week to a county of 35,000
• Residents so passionate about education they voted to raise their own taxes

In this episode, I visit Dayton to see what happens when a county stops trying to be something it's not and starts leveraging what it actually is. Then I break down the framework so you can apply it to your county or business.

00:00 - Why Rural Counties Are Beating Urban Cities

01:30 - Meet Alex Green: Executive Director of Rhea County ECD

05:40 - Living Between Two Nuclear Plants (And Why That's Good)

11:31 - Why Dayton is Called Monkey Town: The Real Story

15:48 - The Bootstrap Mentality & Looking Ahead

17:13 - Manufacturing’s Misconception

18:58 - Why are young men not working?

24:52 - NIMBYism is Costing You Growth

32:40 - Chasing Every Deal Is Killing Your Town

39:36 - Tourism & The Infrastructure Investment That Paid Off

42:50 - Stackable Credentials: The Future of Workforce Development

48:15 - What La-Z-Boy's Expansion Really Means

56:36 - The Studio Debrief: Is Your Town Competing With the Wrong Places?

Have a Tennessee story worth mapping out? Reach out at archabouttn.com