I think the question to answer is this: What does Small Town, U.S.A. have to offer the world that people are willing to pay for? My sense is that until very rec

I think the question to answer is this: What does Small Town, U.S.A. have to offer the world that people are willing to pay for? My sense is that until very recently, the answer was "stuff the locals want plus a few large operations that 'plugged into' the national economy like farms and factories." Now, as you point out, the barriers to consolidating industry into mega-hubs like Shenzhen are dissolving. The only reasons to start or keep a business somewhere now are 3: 1. Physical resource dependence (ex. mining operations need to be where the mine is), 2. Regulatory (ex. tax policies), and 3. Talent. Small towns used to rely on #1, which is now a losing strategy since global markets have dramatically driven down the costs of extracting and moving physical resources. Now they're trying to do more of #2, which works for a little while but there's always another government somewhere willing to cut a better deal. The only way small towns can compete is to focus on #3: Talent. They have to develop highly skilled workforces. That's literally all they can do.