Forbes

Someone might want to write a book about Spartanburg, S.C. As an innovative city, it seems to be ahead of most other American towns. A quarter century ago, it partnered with BMW to create 11,000 new jobs at the automaker’s state-of-the-art BMW manufacturing plant, which transformed the region’s economy from textiles, tobacco and tourism into something like a magnet for the automotive and aerospace industries. That plant is still going strong, still quickening the region’s economic heartbeat.

Now Spartanburg is demonstrating how a town can do something just as crucial: nurture and improve the social fabric around that kind of private sector vitality. Spartanburg wants all of its citizens to be served as well as BMW’s employees and shareholders. Read more