If you haven’t discovered it yet, NPR’s On Point program had a fascinating discussion last week with Joel Kotkin and others about the Great Plains’ booming economy. As a followup, this post examines employment trends for North Dakota, a hotbed for the region’s growth.
Jul. 10, 2010 | Posted by Joshua WrightPosts Tagged ‘Economic Development’
EDA-Sponsored Regional Frontier Project Earns National Honor
An economic development project that brought together researchers and consultants from EMSI, the Purdue Center for Regional Development, Indiana University’s Business Research Center, and other groups has been awarded a 2010 Award of Excellence by the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER).
Jun. 23, 2010 | Posted by Joshua WrightAlabama Town Takes Stock after Biggest Employer Downsizes
Alexander City, a small town in east central Alabama located between Montgomery and Birmingham, has done some serious regrouping after the shrinking of Russell Corp. The giant apparel manufacturer used to employ 7,500 in Alexander City, its former headquarters. Now it employs less than 1,400 in the city.
May. 18, 2010 | Posted by Joshua WrightNew Report on Entrepreneurship Focuses on Education, Population, Geography
The Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy has released a report on business clustering and entrepreneurship, written by Lawrence A. Plummer of the University of Oklahoma. Looking at U.S. Census Bureau data on business startups from 1990-2006, Plummer analyzes how changes in population, income growth, educational attainment, and business density–among other factors–contribute to regional entrepreneurial development.
May. 18, 2010 | Posted by Joshua WrightNatural Incentives: EDC Helps Recruit BMW Carbon Fiber Plant
Grant County is home to two hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River. The proximity to cheap, abundant, and green sources of power ultimately gave Moses Lake—the rural county’s largest city—an advantage over its competition in being selected for a $100 million BMW factory that will make carbon fiber to be used in ultra-lightweight and energy-efficient cars.
May. 13, 2010 | Posted by Joshua WrightDefining Prosperity: Michael Mandel and Real-Per-Capita Income
In a blog post released earlier this week that has sparked some lively reaction from economists and bloggers, Michael Mandel — formerly of Business Week — wonders which metro areas “prospered the most” from 2000-2008.
May. 11, 2010 | Posted by Joshua WrightGreening the Environment and Creating Jobs
One of the themes in our recent series of whitepapers on green jobs is how to weigh economic and job-creation issues against environmental concerns. The same topic is raised in the Christian Science Monitor by guest blogger Matthew E. Kahn.
May. 10, 2010 | Posted by Joshua WrightChamber of Commerce Releases Report on Enterprising States
North Dakota led the way over the last decade with the most job growth in the nation, and Utah had the largest spike in middle-class jobs from 2002-2009. Those were two findings from a state-centric economic development study released by the U.S Chamber of Commerce and National Chamber Foundation and prepared by Praxis Strategy Group, an EMSI client.
May. 4, 2010 | Posted by Joshua WrightEMSI Partners Helping Florida’s Space Coast Cope with Layoffs
Economic and workforce developers along Florida’s Space Coast are feverishly working to stay out in front of the impending closure of the Kennedy Space Center’s shuttle program. When the program ends — which is expected to happen later this year — more than 7,000 space workers will lose their jobs.
Apr. 30, 2010 | Posted by Joshua WrightQ&A: Linda Fowler, Founder of Regionerate
Linda Fowler is Founder and President of Regionerate, a Washington, D.C.-based consulting service dedicated to regional collaboration and economic development. Over the past year, EMSI has worked on several projects with Fowler, including a workforce and competency analysis for the Regional Workforce Alliance of Greater Milwaukee. Fowler recently sat down with us to talk about Regionerate, helping communities grow, and developing meaningful partnerships.
Apr. 27, 2010 | Posted by Joshua WrightFewer and Fewer Cities Showing Job Growth
“This year perhaps we should call the rankings not the ‘best’ places for jobs, but the ‘least worst.’” That assessment comes from Joel Kotkin regarding Forbes’ annual list of the best cities for jobs.
Apr. 23, 2010 | Posted by Joshua WrightN. Carolina Analyzes Its Creative Economy using EMSI’s Tools
In North Carolina, creative occupations pay much better than the state average, grow faster in boom times, and decline slower during recessions. Those are a few of the conclusions from an analysis on the state’s creative economy by North Carolina State University’s Institute for Emerging Issues (IEI) and the North Carolina Department of Commerce.
Mar. 25, 2010 | Posted by Joshua WrightEMSI Data Helps Wisconsin City Retain Largest Employer, Add Jobs
When 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 WrightJanus Economics, EMSI partner on economic development assessment for Dayton airport
In 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 WrightCase Study: New York city sketches out revitalization plan for brownfield sites
Since 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 WrightIowa town reshapes its economy with data-focused plan, partnerships
For 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 WrightEMSI data crucial in Hawaii tech sector report
A wealth of data from EMSI played a key role in an in-depth study released recently by the Hawaii Science and Technology Council, in partnership with the Center for Regional Competitiveness, on Hawaii’s innovation and technology sector. The report highlights the private tech sector’s contribution to the state’s economy (about $3 billion in 2007) and [...]
Oct. 20, 2008 | Posted by Joshua WrightWorkforce data critical as Oklahoma town attracts solar cell plant
When 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 WrightHousatonic Community College: An urban renewal success story
Ten years ago, when Dr. Robert “Rab” Thornton became Dean of Outreach Services at Housatonic Community College (HCC), the college had slow enrollment growth, very little interaction with the local business community, and low visibility in the state legislature. His duty was to reverse this trend and effectively “make an invisible college visible.” Thornton quickly [...]
Jun. 30, 2008 | Posted by Joshua WrightCase Study: Rural EDC teams up with EMSI for stellar growth
How 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 WrightStrategies for Labor Market Responsiveness
This document is a short working paper produced jointly by Central Arizona College and EMSI/CCbenefits Inc. It describes data sources and research methods to help colleges determine a region’s labor market needs and adjust programs accordingly. Download the full document here (PDF hosted by Central Arizona College).
Dec. 12, 2007 | Posted by Joshua WrightData-driven collaboration in Ocala, FL brings together WIB, EDC, and college
Recently, CLM Workforce Connection, Ocala Economic Development Council and Central Florida Community College—all located in Ocala, Florida—teamed up to initiate a shared, focused industry strategy for their region. In order to target the right industries and high growth, high wage occupations, they used integrated regional data and local knowledge to focus their resources on important [...]
Nov. 26, 2007 | Posted by Joshua WrightMcHenry County EDC taps EMSI for workforce data needed by site selectors
Today’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 WrightVirginia BRAC report relies on EMSI’s Strategic Advantage
The Northern Virgina Workforce Investment Board’s SkillSource Group, in partnership with Dr. Kenneth Poole of the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness (affiliated with C2ER), has completed an 18-month BRAC impact study for the area in and around Fort Belvoir and Quantico Marine Base. EMSI’s Strategic Advantage provided the “heavy-lifting” economic modeling, including the estimates of [...]
Aug. 15, 2007 | Posted by Joshua WrightInnovation: What you can learn from Kalamazoo
Fast Company recently highlighted Southwest Michigan First, an economic development group out of Kalamazoo Michigan that was included in this year’s Fast 50 lineup. They are acknowledged in this article for their innovative response to Pfizer closing down their local R & D branch in 2003. Fearing scientists would leave the area without job opportunities, [...]
Aug. 2, 2007 | Posted by Joshua Wright-
About the Blog
The EMSI Blog provides data, links, articles, and other information related to labor market trends, regional economics and workforce and economic development.
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- >> After 3,000 Coal Mining Layoffs, Eastern Kentucky Regroups With Help From $5.2M Training Grant
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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.
