The EMSI Blog is a continuously updated source of information about regional development issues. You’ll find articles, links, news, case studies, and highlights of best practices and whitepapers from both this site and from around the web. Short on time? Subscribe to an RSS feed for the blog and other site content by clicking the link at the bottom of the page.
EMSI’s data, modeling, and consulting services played a key role in a report released today by Bruce Corrie, professor of economics and director of the Strategic Business Design Institute at Concordia University in St. Paul, Minnesota.
The report, titled “Ethnic Capital and Minnesota’s Future: Mexican Americans in Minnesota,” examines the consumer spending power, entrepreneurial capital, productive capital, cultural capital, and other ways that Mexican-Americans benefit the Minnesota economy. The report finds that Mexican-Americans have consumer power of $1 billion, pay $283 million in personal taxes, and have large impacts on the state’s industries and labor market.
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.
UPDATE: The data release has been rescheduled for March 24th.
The EMSI data team is pleased to announce that our regular biannual data update has been scheduled for March 17th 24th. Industry, occupation, demographic, indicators, and input-output data sets are being re-built using the latest information from our sources as well as our most sophisticated data integration process ever. Update highlights include: (1) Improved data unsuppression process to estimate ‘nondisclosed’ figures in government data; (2) Expanded use of states’ regional/local industry projections instead of simply state-level projections; (3) New county-level indicators covering home mortgages, social security beneficiaries, Census LEHD workforce indicators, and Census poverty estimates; and (4) updated Economic Impact input-output model data incorporating Census of Governments data and the latest industry matrices from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (2002 Benchmark and 2006 Annual).
We’re very excited about these improvements. If you have any questions, feel free to contact our Customer Solutions department.
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:
The Association of Community College Trustees, a long-time partner of EMSI/CCbenefits, has posted a statement applauding the report and reinforcing its conclusions.
Last 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 the country.
Among the figures cited in the WSJ article is the stunning result of EMSI’s study: that the wine production and tourism industry has saved the area’s economy from stagnation or decline in the past decade, and that in the next decade over 15% of the area’s jobs will be directly or indirectly dependent on it.
The story is a stellar example of how community colleges can become leaders in economic development–with the right mix of foresight, initiative, passion, and (let’s admit it) a bit of good luck.
Walla Walla Community College, Institute for Enology and Viticulture
The Advisory Committee on Measuring Innovation in the 21st Century Economy—which is backed by the Commerce department and includes leaders of industry heavyweights such as Microsoft, 3M, IBM, UPS, and Wal-Mart—has released its first report on innovation metrics.
Among their recommendations are that federal agencies (Commerce, Labor, Census, IRS) step-up data sharing to improve industry analysis and that the Bureau of Economic Analysis collect new measures of industry inputs and productivity.
Read or download the report materials here.
(Via EDPro via BusinessWeek)
Read the full story here.
A new study shows Western Iowa Tech Community College annually contributes more than $308 million to the Siouxland economy, equal to about 5.5 percent of the region’s total income.
“The report confirms the indispensable role that WITCC plays in the regional economy,” WITCC President Dr. Robert Dunker said. “And, what is equally important, the report establishes the college’s major impact on regional vitality by providing hard facts and dollar values using the most reliable methods available.”
Idaho-based EMSI/CCbenefits Inc., a leading provider of socioeconomic impact and strategic planning tools to community and technical colleges in the United States and Canada, conducted the study for Western Iowa Tech and the state’s other 14 community colleges.
On the heels of last week’s STEM Training & Employment Notice, the U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration has announced $10 million in competitive grants for workforce boards to develop STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) initiatives. More information is available on grants.gov under funding opportunity #SGA-DFA-PY-07-03. Phase I applications are due March 11, with awards expected to be announced in the fall. Only workforce investment boards (WIBs) and WIB consortia are eligible.
As a recent post showed (“Analyzing your region’s STEM occupations”), EMSI’s tools, reports, and consulting services are extremely useful for analyzing any regional STEM workforce. For any geographic area composed of counties or ZIPs, we can show:
For EMSI’s current WIB clients, our Customer Solutions staff is available now to help you profile your region’s STEM workforce using Strategic Advantage. Let EMSI’s solutions add a data-driven punch to your STEM grant application — this support is included free as part of your Strategic Advantage subscription.
For WIBs which are not currently EMSI clients, we are available to provide labor market data and analysis in support of your application. Our flexible, cost-effective consulting services can provide you with a report for your region in less than a week. Please contact us (1-866-999-3674, 8-5 Pacific) for details and pricing.
After last year’s placement on the Inc. 5000 list, Economic Modeling Specialists Inc. has been recognized as one of America’s fastest-growing private companies.
EMSI’s achievement was recently publicized in Forbes magazine on the “Awards Report” page produced by Dallas-based Chorley Publishing.
“We’d like to thank all of our customers for their loyalty, feedback, and support, which has made our company what it is today,” said EMSI CEO Andrew Crapuchettes. “Our customers have actively informed the rapid development of our products and services, helping us make the maze of socioeconomic data easily accessible to the decision makers who need it most.”
Noted regional economist M. Henry Robison founded the company in 1987 as Robison & Associates, which then became EMSI in 1995. EMSI initially specialized in building custom regional economic models, and began producing its own integrated data set to support them. In 2001, Robison and his colleague Kjell Christophersen formed CCbenefits Inc., an economic consulting firm specializing in providing impact studies and regional planning data for community and technical colleges. In 2007, the two companies officially merged under the EMSI name and now provide a diverse portfolio of economic data, software, and consulting solutions to state and local agencies, colleges and universities, workforce development boards, economic development councils, consultants, and private sector clients.
EMSI’s data-driven socioeconomic impact studies for colleges have been recognized in peer reviews as comprehensive, conservative, and accurate. EMSI has performed the studies for over 800 colleges in the U.S. and Canada, and has most recently entered the U.K. market with some 40 contracts already signed.
EMSI is also recognized as a leader in providing integrated economic data gathered from dozens of government sources and packaged in a powerful, user-friendly web-based analysis suite, Strategic Advantage. The tool’s user base has skyrocketed to over 2,500 since 2003, mostly from the state and local public and public-private sector, but also larger agencies such as the U.S. Treasury Department and corporations such as Fortune 500 staffing giant Manpower Inc.
Some highlights of EMSI’s work in the past year include:
Even after seven years of rapid growth and new product development, EMSI remains focused on supporting and improving its current solutions and current client base.
“Last year, return business became the most important part of our revenue,” said Crapuchettes. “We have a very high renewal rate, which shows outstanding customer satisfaction. This remains a major focus area for us even as we consider entering new markets and developing new solutions.”
Here’s a sampling of workforce, education, and economic development news from the holidays:
The EMSI Resource Library is an online source of news, articles, and links for professionals in workforce development, economic development, and workforce education. Want to contribute? Email us.
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