In Marysville, Ohio; Georgetown, Kentucky; and Smyrna and Spring Hill, Tennessee, life will never again be the same. Once small rural communities, they're now boom towns-thanks to Honda, Toyota, Nissan, and Saturn.

It's happening all over America: communities desperate for economic development lure large companies looking for a docile labor force, cheap real estate, and an alternative to the regulations of cities. But what happens to a small town when it successfully attracts corporate America (or corporate Japan)? As Michele Hoyman shows, from the announcement of plant siting until long...