Every region must periodically assess its most important industries in order to ensure that policy priorities are aligned with the realities and needs of the region’s economy. However, determining which regional industries are important can be challenging, since the definition of “important” is not always agreed upon by regional stakeholders. To avoid resorting to multiple surveys or word-of-mouth evidence, hard data is a necessary component of this planning process. Quantitative methods are also much faster and cheaper than qualitative methods, and also less prone to be affected by political pressures.

Read the full document (PDF): Identifying Important Regional Industries

Workforce3One: Overseen by the Department of Labor, the site “is an interactive communications and learning platform designed to build the capacity of the Workforce Investment System (WIS) to develop strategies that enable individuals to be successful in the 21st century economy.”

Association of Community College Trustees: A longtime partner of EMSI/CCbenefits, ACCT’s mission is “promoting effective board governance through advocacy and education.”

When the State of North Carolina received its share of the master settlement from cigarette manufacturers, it set up the Golden LEAF foundation with half of the funds to transform the state’s economy and workforce. One of Golden LEAF’s major grants was to the North Carolina Community College System to start its BioNetwork initiative, which is also supported by ongoing allocations from the state legislature. The initiative is designed to prepare the state’s workforce for employment in the emerging biotechnology field. The initiative now has six centers across the state, with involvement from twenty colleges.

Read the full document (PDF): Case Study: NCCCS BioNetwork Impact Report

“Rapid response” refers to action by regional, state, or federal agencies to provide comprehensive re-employment services to workers who are about to be laid off by large employer cutbacks or closings. By identifying local employment and/or economic development opportunities, relevant agencies can reduce the impact of the job losses on the workers and the community as a whole.

Read the full document (PDF): Using Data to Support Rapid Response

Summary:

America’s Dynamic Workforce: 2007 presents an overview of current conditions and notable trends affecting the American labor market and economic activity. Primary emphasis is on measures of labor market performance – employment, labor force participation, unemployment, and compensation. General measures of economic performance such as gross domestic product (GDP) and productivity growth are also described as they relate to labor market conditions and trends.

Read the report here.

This best practice document provides an overview of conducting a socioeconomic impact analysis of community and technical colleges.

Excerpt:

Community colleges play a substantial role in the economic development of their service regions, not only through their own daily operations, but also through the added skills that they provide to their students. The benefits of community colleges are many, making them a valuable resource to all education stakeholders – students, taxpayers, as well as businesses. Measuring these benefits in quantitative terms, however, can be a challenge, and, in the vast majority of cases, the advantages of community colleges are often treated anecdotally or even overlooked. Many surveys indicate that citizens are more likely to act in support of community colleges once they are informed of the benefits they generate, which is why it is important for colleges to be able to measure, using hard data, their significant contributions to the community.

Download the full document (PDF): Socioeconomic Impact Analysis: Measuring the Role of Your College in its State and Local Economy.

The definition of a region is the first key step in an economic impact or economic base analysis. Which sub-areas (counties, ZIPs, or MSAs) should be included or excluded? What principles guide region definition? This short document is intended to answer these questions and help our users create regions that are appropriate for such analysis.

Download the full document (PDF): Defining a Functional Economic Region

Pennsylvania is one of the nation’s leading states in developing an integrated, demand-driven workforce system. One of their system’s greatest strengths is the statewide Industry Partnerships initiative, in which the state offers grants to employer-led consortia to bring stakeholders together and provide workers with the training they need to succeed. In the context of these partnerships, PA has developed a pilot Career Pathways initiative to improve strategies for worker training and advancement.

Read the release here.

EMSI/CCbenefits will be in the U.K. on September 10th to conduct its first-ever data input seminar for the U.K. version of its flagship Socioeconomic Impact (SEIM) study for colleges. Also presenting was Ms. Rachel Jones, Vice Principal of Warwickshire College, which participated in the initial pilot phase of the U.K. SEIM study.

King’s College in London hosted the seminar to launch the second phase of the pilot SEIM study for Further Education (FE) colleges in the U.K. More than 15 different FE colleges from across the UK were represented, and EMSI/CCbenefits expects a total of some 30 colleges to order the SEIM before the end of the year. The purpose of the seminar was to introduce the SEIM Starter Kit to participating colleges and provide context and explanation for the data requested.

The EMSI/CCbenefits SEIM study is a unique college impact study that measures the cost/benefit and return on investment of higher education from the perspectives of both taxpayers and the general public. About 800 SEIM studies have been conducted for community and technical colleges in the U.S. and Canada.