This study, “Economic Contribution of America’s Community and Technical Colleges” (PDF link), was authored by CCbenefits (now EMSI) in 2004, and showcases the socioeconomic impact model (SEIM) framework used in EMSI’s college studies.

The analysis is based on a sample of 262 colleges in 14 states, representing roughly one-third of the current total enrollment in community and technical colleges in the country. The findings from the sample were used to generate results by inference for the some 1,200 colleges in the United States. Two major analyses are conducted: 1) investment analyses from the perspectives of the students and the taxpayers, and 2) economic growth analysis to determine the relative contribution to GDP by the community and technical colleges.

Some of the findings include:

• The average associate’s degree holder will earn $9,000 more annually ($325,000 lifetime) because of that degree.
• Associate’s-level education confers a number of benefits to students as well as the general public. The analysis translates the economic growth effect of community and technical college education into increased state and local government revenues (via increased tax receipts). Added to these are an assortment of social savings, e.g., avoided costs stemming from reductions in incarceration, welfare, health care support, and others.
• Taxpayers, who bear about 58% of community and technical college costs, receive a 16% return on their investment in the colleges—well above the 4% opportunity cost of funds.
• The bottom line: colleges return more to taxpayers than they cost.

Bruce Corrie, Dean of the College of Business at Concordia University, has released a report that attempts to quantify the “ethnic capital” of Liberian immigrants in the US as a whole and the state of Minnesota in particular.

Though a small community, Liberians in the United States and Minnesota have a significant impact on the national and local economy. This report will document the multidimensional economic contributions of Liberians in Minnesota and the nation. The local analysis in Minnesota can help estimate the national economic contributions of this community to the nation.

- Liberians in the United States have a buying power of over a billion dollars. This is equivalent to two times the GDP of Liberia in 2005.

- In Minnesota Liberian buying power is an estimated $157 million dollars which is almost as large as the 2007-08 Liberian National Budget of $199 million dollars.

Read the report here.

EMSI economists have completed a new study titled “Identification of Knowledge and Innovation Clusters: A GIS Application of Concentration, Co-Existence, and Correlation.” The paper, which was presented at the Pacific Northwest Regional Economic Conference, identifies regions with a high level of high-tech industry clustering, human capital, and innovation.

These regional “knowledge clusters” were identified using several data elements:

• High-tech industry and industry clusters
• High-knowledge occupation clusters
• College degree attainment
• Patent generation
• Relative density of higher education institutions

After condensing all this information in to a single “innovation index,” the authors plotted a map of the hottest innovation zones in the U.S.

Download the draft paper (PDF): Knowledge and Innovation Clusters

An EMSI gap analysis report is being used to inform a new Master Plan for Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville, Arkansas. NWACC has reviewed input from multiple sources, including the EMSI report, and the consensus appears to be that the college needs to create a permanent presence in a neighboring county as well as establish a university center.

The task force got its first official look at all the compiled data, as well as information from the 2006 gap analysis, which was conducted by Economic Modeling Specialists Inc. A gap analysis looks at a community and determines what needs are being met and what needs remain unfulfilled. This is accomplished using public data and demographics, NWACC consultant Patti Mocivnik explained.

Susan Holmes, co-facilitator for the task force, said the results make the priorities quite clear. Certain types of programs, such as programs for medical professions, are clearly needed, but so is a type of program called a university center. University centers are programs in which other colleges and universities can partner with NWACC to provide their four-year degrees using NWACC facilities.

Read the full article here.

EMSI’s gap analysis drew on an integrated database of over 70 public sources to organize key demographic, economic, and labor market information for the college. The report was prepared as part of a statewide initiative that included similar reports for all Arkansas community and technical colleges.

Timely data and analysis from EMSI were critical for a recent gap analysis report performed for Kingsborough Community College in New York. The final report was created by EMSI’s partner Workforce Strategy Center, a New York based nonprofit, in the summer of 2007 and was recently released on their web site.

The report focused on tourism and hospitality, non-nursing health care, retail, and maritime industry sectors. In particular, the report helped inform the college’s newly-launched Project Welcome, an initiative designed to train students for careers in New York’s fast-growing tourism and hospitality industries. In a recent local news article, representatives from the college and Workforce Strategy Center lauded the project’s success.

Indeed, a year after the launch of the program, Project Welcome, Kingsborough Community College (KCC) is reporting success above and beyond what was initially predicted, opening the door to potential success for those just beginning their work careers as well as those making mid-life career changes.

Stuart Schulman, the director of KCC’s Center for Economic and Workforce Development, said that Project Welcome – which had been established thanks to a $1.7 million grant from the United States Department of Labor – had exceeded the federal requirements as far as the number of people trained is concerned. In addition, Schulman said that the program — which centers on a 280-hour, 10 week course — had also exceeded its goals in terms of placement.

The framework used by Workforce Strategy Center, known as “Career Pathways,” is designed to help workers get training for jobs in high-demand fields with clear opportunities for future career advancement. It has been successfully paired with EMSI’s wealth of regional labor market data in several workforce development projects around the country.

Everyone knows that manufacturing is on the decline both nationwide and in states like Ohio, right? Well, not exactly—the story is actually much more complicated.

It is true that Ohio’s manufacturing sector saw a loss of some 93,000 jobs (about 10 percent) from 2002 to 2007, even as other portions of the economy were pulling out of the 2001 recession. Nationally, the manufacturing sector lost more than a million jobs, or 7 percent, over the same period. However, this does not at all mean that manufacturing should be neglected by economic development efforts. Rather, the sector is now undergoing intense restructuring that will require innovative, targeted investments. In particular, Ohio economic development professionals should be aware of four major trends in the state’s manufacturing sector:

1. The sector is actually adding new jobs in many non-urban areas.
2. The sector is becoming smaller, more productive, and higher-paying.
3. An aging workforce and rapid skill changes will tighten the sector’s job market.
4. The weak dollar will benefit manufacturers who can export products.

Read on to examine each of these trends in more detail: Recent Trends in Ohio Manufacturing (PDF)

The Kauffman Foundation has released a new report on increasing entrepreneurship in the US economy. The report’s foundational assumption is that entrepreneurs have created most of the new technologies and business models that have fueled our nation’s staggering productivity growth in the past few decades.

The central policy recommendations of the report are

1. “Ensuring a skilled workforce” by improving K-16 education and beyond in math, science, and entrepreneurial thinking, as well as making it easier for skilled and educated immigrants to work in the US.
2. “Reforming health care” to reduce costs and risks for the self-employed and small businesses.
3. “Promoting innovation” by reforming the patent system, increasing commercialization of university research, and monitoring foreign R&D activity for new ideas.
4. “Limiting overly burdensome regulation and liability litigation,” which have a greater effect on entrepreneurial firms than on large established corporations.

Read the full report here.

The National Science Board has released a report and data tool that includes dozens of state-specific science & engineering indicators.

Science and Engineering Indicators (SEI) is first and foremost a volume of record comprising the major high-quality quantitative data on the U.S. and international science and engineering enterprise. SEI is factual and policy-neutral. It does not offer policy options and it does not make policy recommendations. SEI employs a variety of presentational styles—tables, figures, narrative text, bulleted text, Web-based links, highlights, introductions, conclusions, reference lists—to make the data accessible to readers with different information needs and different information-processing preferences.

The data are “indicators.” Indicators are quantitative representations that might reasonably be thought to provide summary information bearing on the scope, quality, and vitality of the science and engineering enterprise. The indicators reported in SEI are intended to contribute to an understanding of the current environment and to inform the development of future policies. SEI does not model the dynamics of the science and engineering enterprise, and it avoids strong claims about the significance of the indicators it reports. SEI is used by readers who hold a variety of views about which indicators are most significant for different purposes.

SEI is prepared by the National Science Foundation’s Division of Science Resources Statistics (SRS) under the guidance of the National Science Board (Board). It is subject to extensive review by outside experts, interested federal agencies, Board members, and NSF internal reviewers for accuracy, coverage, and balance.

The College Board’s National Commission on Community Colleges has released its final report, titled “Winning the Skills Race and Strengthening America’s Middle Class: An Action Agenda for Community Colleges.”

The report highlights the contributions of America’s community colleges and their potential for meeting key future challenges for our national economy, while at the same time bemoaning the fact that they are “the nation’s overlooked asset.”

It goes on to make some key recommendations, such as:

1. Federal reform legislation to modernize and reinvigorate colleges at a national level.
2. State and local reform efforts to improve funding and align K-20 systems.
3. College efforts to improve accountability metrics, degree production, and student access and success.

The Association of Community College Trustees, a long-time partner of EMSI/CCbenefits, has posted a statement applauding the report and reinforcing its conclusions.

EMSI/CCbenefits has just completed a major study of the socioeconomic impact of Maryland’s community colleges, commissioned by the Maryland Association of Community Colleges. The project included individual studies for 14 participating institutions, in addition to an aggregate report highlighting the impact of the system as a whole.

While EMSI’s policy is not to release specific results from its clients’ studies, this study did find that the Maryland system of 2-year colleges yields a significant return on investment and positive benefit/cost ratio to its students and to state taxpayers.

EMSI’s comprehensive socioeconomic impact (SEIM) study detailed several benefits of Maryland’s colleges:

• Economic impact of colleges’ operational spending and out-of-region student/visitor spending in their local economies;
• Economic impact of increased student earnings attributable to their education (EMSI studies frequently find that this is a very large and often ignored component of a college’s impact); and
• Social savings (health, employment, lifestyle choices) statistically attributable to postsecondary education.

EMSI/CCbenefits SEIM studies treat education as an investment for students and taxpayers alike, and include an investment analysis from both perspectives.