Do you want some new ways to improve the climate for economic development in your community, some activity beyond offering the usual tax breaks, infrastructure investment, and job training to big firms that are letting your community bid against others? We offer, in this book-A view of WHOLESALE economic development – activities to benefit many firms at once-A fertile ground approach to improving the economic climate in your community-Our 7B checklist for generating ideas for wholesale activities-A sample kit of 20 wholesale activities you can consider applying to your community.To save you time and trouble, we have read the long, number-filled, academic textbooks. We have talked to and corresponded with several dozen economic development professionals. We have worked with the material covering large cities to make it relevant to smaller communities (from 10,000 to 300,000). We have translated what we learned into advice you can use. This book is the first volume in the Wholesale Economic Development series. It provides a general introduction and covers the bullet points listed above. Volume II will provide case studies of smaller communities whose economies have done well. Later volumes will provide more depth on topics described in volumes I and II. We are also providing opportunities for our readers to suggest which topics they would like addressed in those later volumes.We are committed to economic development for all sizes of local communities, and think our fertile ground approach to wholesale activities and our 7B checklist can help.