Gary Mallon and his colleagues at Greater Spokane Incorporated focus their economic development and chamber of commerce efforts not just in Spokane and Eastern Washington but also throughout a extended region that includes North Idaho. When it comes to searching through the diverse area for available, highly-trained workers—a “core asset” to the region, according to [...]
Dec. 10, 2009 | Posted by Joshua WrightWhen a major Wisconsin manufacturer considered relocating to Oklahoma, local and state economic development professionals put on a full-court press to convince the company to stay. The results were overwhelmingly positive, offering a vibrant example of a successful business retention effort. PDF of the case study: Mercury Marine retention effort Nearly 1,900 Fond du Lac [...]
Oct. 3, 2009 | Posted by Joshua WrightAs the current recession continues, business incubators and accelerators have become increasingly important in helping communities and regions stabilize and even strengthen their economies. A textbook example comes from Spartanburg Community College in South Carolina, where a new accelerator has already had a major effect on its area. For a PDF of the case study [...]
Jul. 22, 2009 | Posted by Joshua WrightIn an attempt to generate new jobs and increase public revenues for their airport, leaders in Dayton, Ohio, and surrounding townships are looking to develop 600 acres around the city-owned airport for economic development purposes. An initial step in enhancing the area was conducting a data-driven analysis to determine which industries to target based on [...]
Jul. 9, 2009 | Posted by Joshua WrightWorking in major population centers such as Los Angeles to more isolated areas like Montana and North Dakota, Praxis Strategy Group helps a wide spectrum of clients craft and implement community initiatives and business ventures. Part of PSG’s analysis includes looking at detailed data from EMSI that is not constrained by typical geographical boundaries. PSG [...]
Jun. 19, 2009 | Posted by Joshua WrightSince the 1970s, former industrial sites in Rome, NY, have deteriorated, leaving behind abandoned buildings after the closure of companies like General Cable Corporation. City leaders, the Environmental Protection Agency, and other organizations have started to clean up the plots of land and use them for redevelopment purposes. To read the case study in PDF [...]
Apr. 7, 2009 | Posted by Joshua WrightApril, 2009 By: M. Henry Robison, Founder and Senior Economist, EMSI contact information: Rob Sentz (rob@economicmodeling.com) For a PDF version of the paper: IO guidebook Introduction Our nation’s economic woes have led to many ideas for the best way to transform our economy and get it back on track. Many of these ideas are rooted [...]
Apr. 2, 2009 | Posted by Joshua WrightTo read Section V, click here Introduction Before you begin to conduct input-output analysis it is important to establish “boundaries” that in some sense reflect functioning economic regions. Though at first the concept of “region” or “community” might seem obvious, defining one for economic modeling purposes is not always so easy. This section will therefore [...]
Apr. 2, 2009 | Posted by Joshua WrightTo read Section IV, click here Introduction Input-output has not been used to its maximum potential in economic development. Often it is merely a political tool that helps to justify incentives for recruiting and retaining specific companies in a region. By running impact scenarios and estimating multipliers, an IO model will tell you approximately how [...]
Apr. 2, 2009 | Posted by Joshua WrightTo read Section III, click here Introduction While the methods of conducting an IO analysis are straightforward, there are several common pitfalls that tend to overstate impacts, either because they fail to account for monies that leak outside of the region, or because they ignore monies that may be withdrawn or lost from the economy. [...]
Apr. 2, 2009 | Posted by Joshua WrightTo read Section II, click here Introduction In previous sections we have briefly introduced the concept of multipliers. Let’s take a minute to explain these and how they are very important to IO models. Although economists talk about many kinds of multipliers, we are only concerned with regional multipliers in this guide. For the purposes [...]
Apr. 2, 2009 | Posted by Joshua WrightTo read Section I, click here A. Descriptive and Predictive Uses The practical uses of input-output are of two kinds—descriptive and predictive. In descriptive uses, the model simply informs users about the current regional economy: Which industries have how many jobs and how much in earnings What portion of an industry’s supply needs are likely [...]
Apr. 2, 2009 | Posted by Joshua WrightTo read the introduction, click here This paper is for regional workforce and economic development professionals, education providers, regional policy makers, and others with an interest in regional workforce and economic development. Our first task is to introduce the study of regional economics in a way that is clear and relatively free of jargon. We [...]
Apr. 2, 2009 | Posted by Joshua WrightWith Alabama lawmakers bracing for difficult budget issues in the 2009 legislative session, one state-funded organization that provides critical workforce training and economic development incentives decided to take a proactive approach to show its value with a dollar-and-cents assessment. To read the case study in PDF format: ROI report helps Alabama training institute demonstrate its [...]
Mar. 25, 2009 | Posted by Joshua WrightJosh Grodzin Director, Economic Development Choose DuPage Lisle, Illinois Josh Grodzin uses EMSI’s data analysis to help publish quarterly economic indicator reports for DuPage County. The reports are intended to give a quick snapshot of the county’s diverse economy – everything from the unemployment rate to the number of building permits issued to occupied industrial [...]
Mar. 4, 2009 | Posted by Joshua WrightBrock Terry GIS Analyst Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs Western Illinois University Macomb, Illinois When major floods inundated parts of Illinois in 2008, Brock Terry and his colleagues at the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs were commissioned to look at the impacted areas to see what industries were affected on a ZIP code level. A [...]
Feb. 2, 2009 | Posted by Joshua WrightFor all those communities struggling to cope in this tough economic landscape, here’s a model of how to reshape your future. This New York Times profile of Pittsburgh, which is thriving in comparison to many industrial centers, shows the value of taking a proactive approach to economic and workforce development. Stakeholders in the Pittsburgh area [...]
Jan. 12, 2009 | Posted by Joshua WrightBackground Because of the recent economic turmoil, EMSI has received many questions about how to deal with local mass layoffs. In this white paper, we have compiled our main recommendations for using labor market data and analysis when drafting re-employment strategies. Download a PDF version of the white paper: Strategic Responses to Layoffs for Re-employment [...]
Dec. 19, 2008 | Posted by Joshua WrightIn the span of two years, Newton, Iowa, has reinvented itself after the loss of Maytag’s corporate and manufacturing headquarters. As a result, it has received national attention and serves as a textbook example of how small and rural communities can survive even the most devastating job loss. Watch the video here. EMSI contributed to [...]
Nov. 25, 2008 | Posted by Joshua WrightFor more than a century, the economy of Newton, Iowa, has depended on the presence of Maytag. But when the manufacturer was swallowed up by Whirlpool, which promptly closed the Newton plant, regional leaders had to develop a new revitalization and economic development strategy from scratch. The result has been the creation of 1,200 new [...]
Nov. 12, 2008 | Posted by Joshua WrightWhen the Belgian high-tech materials company Umicore decided to expand its germanium wafer production to the U.S., its search led it to three cities. Two were not surprises (Phoenix and Albuquerque), but one was off the beaten path in the tiny town of Quapaw, Oklahoma (pop. 966), near the Ottawa County seat of Miami (pop. [...]
Sep. 24, 2008 | Posted by Joshua WrightRepresentatives from EMSI, Maher & Maher, and the Newton, Iowa region will be presenting a session titled “The Integrated RIG Planning Process: Lessons From the First Regional Innovation Grant” at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Workforce Innovations 2008 conference. For those going to the conference and interested in attending the session, it is scheduled for [...]
Jun. 30, 2008 | Posted by Joshua WrightLast summer, EMSI completed a study of the Walla Walla region’s wine production and tourism cluster. Recently the Wall Street Journal ran this article that focuses on the leadership of Walla Walla Community College, which is arguably responsible for the industry’s rapid growth and which has sparked numerous similar programs at other community colleges across [...]
Jan. 31, 2008 | Posted by Joshua WrightHow a rural economic development council competes in the global economy—and recruits Yahoo, Microsoft, Intuit, Ask.com, and more. Click here to read the full story (PDF): “It’s All About Jobs” in Grant County Finding a Competitive Edge in the Global Economy “It’s all about jobs”: that’s the stated vision of Grant County Economic Development Council, [...]
Jan. 25, 2008 | Posted by Joshua WrightFrom “Firms of a Feather Flock Together,” an article on new research from Washington University in St. Louis: “High-tech firms locating close to each other benefit from the proximity,” says Barak S. Aharonson, visiting assistant professor of organization and strategy at the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis. “The potential for frequent [...]
Dec. 12, 2007 | Posted by Joshua WrightThe Fund for Our Economic Future, a philanthropic organization in northeast Ohio, publishes a “dashboard” of the area’s economic health, as well as a detailed analysis of dozens of indicator variables used to generate the dashboard results. The 2007 Full Report is an excellent resource for anyone interested in using socioeconomic indicators to track and [...]
Nov. 16, 2007 | Posted by Joshua WrightToday’s innovative companies are just as concerned with local workforce availability as they are with building sites and incentive packages, which is why development professionals need to be prepared to answer detailed questions about their region’s labor force: size, unemployment, industry/occupation profile, workers in similar/transferable occupations, post-secondary program capacity, and so on. Chris Manheim, President [...]
Oct. 26, 2007 | Posted by Joshua WrightPurdue University’s Center for Regional Development (CRD) and the Indiana Business Research Center, in partnership with Economic Modeling Specialists Inc., have been awarded a $350,000 grant from the Economic Development Administration to study and improve rural economic development strategies. Results of this study will help business and government leaders throughout the nation measure innovation capacity, [...]
Oct. 25, 2007 | Posted by Joshua WrightKnow Your Region: An online collection of professional development curricula and other resources to help development professionals “understand and apply core concepts of regionalism and industry cluster development.” A joint project of two universities and C2ER (formerly ACCRA).
Oct. 22, 2007 | Posted by Joshua WrightWashington State is offering regions the chance to apply for five industry-cluster-based “Innovation Partnership Zone” designations, each of which comes with $1 million in grants to create a research park. Minnesota is jump-starting rural economic development with an initiative called SEED (Strategic Entrepreneurial Economic Development), which is focused on small business creation. San Francisco has [...]
Oct. 11, 2007 | Posted by Joshua WrightThe EMSI Blog provides data, links, articles, and other information related to labor market trends, regional economics and workforce and economic development.
Joshua Wright is a member of the EMSI marketing team and manages the EMSI blog. If you have any questions, comments, or article ideas, please email him.
