2017 C2ER Accomplishments

During the past 12 months, the Council for Community and Economic Research, YOUR professional membership organization, has been hard at work increasing the visibility of economic, workforce, and community research by advocating for higher quality data, promoting more focused public and private investments in local data, and continuing to strengthen C2ER products and services.  We keep you informed about new data sources, exciting research, and opportunities to learn.  Following are some of the most vital accomplishments during the past year.

Communication with Data Users and Producers

Publications: C2ER/LMI Institute Weekly Update and Journal

  • Modernized the weekly Update with a fresh look
  • Monitored and summarized emerging data issues, relevant events, and recent research
  • Distributed weekly Update to more than 8,000 individuals, including members and targeted stakeholders
  • Developed target updates to non-members to increase membership rates among current readers
  • Published blog posts on topics relevant to C2ER members, including C2ER events and economic development news and trend analysis (https://blog.c2er.org/)
  • Produced four specialized blog-formatted articles for the Journal of Applied Research in Economic Development on relevant issues to economic development analysts and practitioners

Annual Conference, Training and Certification

  • Coordinated C2ER Annual Conference, LMI Institute Annual Forum and the Projections Managing Partnership (PMP) Summit for more than 240 attendees
  • Delivered in-person training courses:

Basic Labor Market Information Analyst

Foundations of Applied Economic Development Research

Intermediate Tableau for Economic and Workforce Developers

Leadership in Research Workshop

Analyzing & Developing Workforce Studies

New Census Tools 101

Applied Analyst Training

  • Conducted 24 webinars, reaching over 2,000 audience members
  • Certified three new Certified Community Researchers (CCR) in Quarter 4, 2017

Data Advocacy and National Visibility for C2ER Member Efforts

  • Served as member of BLS Data Users Advisory Committee
  • Collaborated with Friends of BLS and the Census Project in federal statistical advocacy efforts
  • Met periodically with key Census, BLS, and BEA leaders to improve regional data access
  • Represented the interests of statistical data users in meetings with Congressional staff during several visits to Capitol Hill, including organizing C2ER volunteers to contact Congress
  • Signed on to several letters advocating for proper funding for Census, BLS, and BEA
  • Provided input and technical assistance to the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking

Data Collection and Research Activities

Cost of Living Index – C2ER’s flagship data product since 1968   http://www.coli.org

  • Remodeled and issued 2017 County and State Level Cost of Living Index
  • Improved the process of library application and added three non-COLI databases including the State Business Incentives Database, State Economic Development Program Expenditures Database, and C2ER Diversity Index Database
  • Conducted online data scraping for housing, grocery, and miscellaneous categories nationwide
  • Attended annual conferences for the American Library Association, Tableau, and Emsi to promote C2ER products and membership
  • Increased metro participation with eight new communities contributing data

C2ER State Business Incentives Database Update http://www.stateincentives.org/

  • Maintained and updated unique summary of around 1,800 state programs designed to help businesses create jobs with 2017-2018 state legislative changes
  • Added additional programs for all U.S. states, territories, and the District of Columbia
  • Renewed the partnership with SelectUSA at the U.S. Department of Commerce to provide content to international companies seeking U.S. facility locations
  • Updated the program manager contact list based on state agency feedback

C2ER State Economic Development Program Expenditures Database Update  http://www.stateexpenditures.org

  • Updated database for FY 2018 proposed expenditures, as well as FY 2016 actual and FY 2017 appropriated expenditures (when available), for all 50 states in the database
    • Updated 2,300 and added 1,100 more state economic development program expenditure records

Other Policy and Economic Research and Technical Assistance

  • Continued partnership on a two-year project on state data sharing laws, regulations and agreements for a project sponsored by Laura and John Arnold Foundation
  • Assisted National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) with assessing the data analytic opportunities from the National Labor Exchange database of job openings data
  • Provided state incentives information to the U.S. Dept. of Commerce SelectUSA program
  • Conducted research on Current Population Survey microdata about the prevalence of credentials by education level, occupation, and other workforce characteristics
  • Launched the C2ER Tools of the Trade Database, an online resource for economic and workforce developers to identify data resources to guide their research