The USA Today article is very interesting.
Do not forget that rural folks tend to live in the past. Local officials' perception of the local economy tends to average about 15 years behind, and the general public's is often worse. It is often extremely helpful to take your leadership through the basic economic data describing their community in a hands-on way. That way they do not have to believe you, they can see for themselves. The Sonoran Institute has a lot of experience doing this in workshops. You can obtain their EPS (economic profile system) on-line at <sonoran.org> and if the place you may be moving is in the West, you may be able to obtain assistance directly from SI or from SI via your local BLM field office or district.
Beyond remembering how slowly perceptions of local economies evolve, and how personal everything can be a la Cardinal's advice, it is incredibly important to know about the rural inferiority complex. Rural communities generally have a lot of pride on the surface and a huge lack of confidence underneath. I think the key is helping folks see what their assets really are.
There is a lot more on this in our book, The Planning for Results Guidebook, Practical Advice for Building Successful Rural Communities, which can be ordered from the National Ass'n of Counties. There is an order form at the Sonoran Inst. web site.