Two New Resources for Understanding Your Local Economy

["Stephen Cooke" <scooke@uidaho.edu>]

FYI

Steve

-----Original Message-----
From: Joe Cortright [mailto:jcortright@hevanet.com]
Sent: Monday, March 15, 1999 7:08 PM
To: Economic.Development.Professionals@hevanet.com
Subject: Two New Resources for Understanding Your Local Economy

Thanks for being of the more than 650 persons who completed our
survey on socioeconomic data for economic development analysis last
year.  Your comments and opinions, and those of literally hundreds of
your colleagues will help EDA and the federal statistical agencies to
do a better job of helping you, and others to more accurately
understand local and regional economies in the years ahead.

To once again offer our thanks for your efforts, we wanted you to be
among the first to have access to the fruits of this labor.  Here's
an announcement that will shortly be going to economic development
practitioners and analysts nationwide.  (Feel free to circulate
copies to your colleagues).

Two New Resources for Understanding Your Local Economy

Ever feel overwhelmed and confused by the great variety of regional
economic data available in print and on-line?  Ever feel frustrated
trying to find data that you are sure someone, somewhere must have
prepared, but you're not sure where to find them?  Ever tie yourself
in knots trying to make sense of conflicting employment data from
three different sources?

Andrew Reamer and Joseph Cortright feel your pain.  We do, honest.
We've been there.  With funding from the U.S. Economic Development
Administration, Messrs. Reamer and Cortright are happy to let you
know that they have put together two resources that can aid you in
your efforts to analyze your regional economy.  One's a reference
book, available for free on request from EDA, and one's a web site
that you can go to at a click of your mouse.  Here are the details:

Socioeconomic Data for Understanding Your Regional Economy: A User's
Guide

Economic development decisions are supposed to be based on good data
analysis.  But the dirty little secret in economic development is
that no one teaches us much of anything about what data are available
, how to get them, and what to do with them.  When it comes to data,
most of us have to muddle our way as best we can.

Socioeconomic Data for Understanding Your Regional Economy: A User's
Guide aims to address this gap in our learning.  It's a 100-page
reference book for understanding, finding, and using publicly
available data to assess local and state economies.  The Guide:
reviews the offerings of federal statistical agencies,
describes sources of data by topic (e.g., population, employment,
income, cost of living),
points you to data intermediaries who can help you get the data you
need,
discusses approaches to using data,
provides references for further self-education, and
lists key data sources to put in your library or access on-line.

If the very thought of data analysis elevates your blood pressure and
brings on feelings of inadequacy, the User's Guide is for you - it is
written to be accessible to data novices, while useful to battle
-hardened data pros.  The U.S. system for producing regional data is
so diffuse and idiosyncratic, we think almost every reader will find
something of value.

And here's the best part:  the User's Guide is free!  To get your
copy, simply e-mail John McNamee, Director of Research and National
Technical Assistance, Economic Development Administration, at
jmcnamee@doc.gov.  EDA has printed a limited number of copies of the
book, available on a first-come, first-served basis.
EconData.Net:  Your First Stop for Finding Data on the Web

One of the wonderful things about the development of the Web is the
amazing amount of socioeconomic data available on-line. But who knows
what's available and how to find it, and who has the time to figure
all this out? OK, that was a set-up, we do.  As part of our project
for EDA, we created a Web site that provides links to over 125 public
, university, and private sources of regional socioeconomic data.
Access to on-line data is provided to the various series profiled in
the User's Guide as well as many others. To get there, click here:
http://www.econdata.net

If you're a current user of our Web page, look for big changes ahead
as we continue to expand and improve the site.  In the next few weeks
, we'll be giving EconData.Net a whole new look, making it easier
than ever to find your way to the data you need.  Bookmark the site,
and check back occasionally as we add new features.

We hope you find the User's Guide and EconData.Net of value in your
work.  If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact
either of us.

Sincerely,


Andrew Reamer                                   Joseph Cortright
Andrew Reamer & Associates                              Impresa, Inc.
reamer@thecia.net
jcortright@hevanet.com