"In my work ... I have found it useful to divide these 100 North Carolina counties, as you speak of, really into six groups based on two key characteristics: first size of the area, whether it's an urban area, a small town area or a rural area," he explains. "And then by the type of economy: whether they are a primarily a new economy, a growing economy or whether it's an economy in transition: moving from the traditional economy in North Carolina to something else.

"So if you use this format, you have six types of counties in North Carolina: You have counties that are growing with the new economy, whether they be urban counties like the Triangle, small town economies like Boone, or rural counties as in the far west.

"Then you have counties that are in transition: urban counties like Greensboro, small town counties like around Greenville and rural counties down east.

"And I think what's useful out of this is that you can see common strategies in terms of economic development based on where you will place your county into these six groups."