C2ER 2016 Accomplishments

Board, Membership, Uncategorized
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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 have also sought to 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

 Weekly Publication of the C2ER/LMI Institute Update

  • Monitored and summarized emerging data issues, relevant events, and recent research
  • Distributed update to more than 9,000 individuals by weekly email publication, including C2ER/ LMI Institute members, as well as targeted stakeholder contacts
  • Published blog posts on topics relevant to C2ER members, including C2ER events and economic development news and trend analysis (https://blog.c2er.org/)

Journal of Applied Research in Economic Development

  • Produced 2 specialized articles in a blog format on key issues most relevant to economic development analysts and practitioners and relaunched the Journal in October 2016

Annual Conference, Training and Certification

  • Coordinated C2ER Annual Conference, LMI Institute Annual Forum, and the Projections Managing Partnership (PMP) Summit in Minneapolis, MN, attracting more than 240 attendees for a week’s worth of programming on research leadership, practice, and related tools/techniques
  • Developed and delivered in-person training courses, including: Basic Labor Market Information Analyst, Foundations of Applied Economic Development Research, Applied Data Visualization: Moving from Theory into Practice, Leadership in Research Workshop: Developing and Managing a World-Class Research Operation, Marketing & Communicating Workforce & Economic Development Research, Data Viz Made Simple, and Applied Analyst Training.
  • Conducted 24 Webinars for C2ER, LMI Institute, PMP, the Census Bureau’s Longitudinal Employment-Household Dynamics (LEHD) program, and annual conference sponsors

Data Advocacy and National Visibility for C2ER Member Efforts

  • Served as member of BLS Data Users Advisory Committee and national partner/advisor to the Workforce Data Quality Campaign
  • Collaborated with Friends of BLS and the Census Project in federal statistical advocacy efforts
  • Meet periodically with key Census, BLS, and BEA leaders to discuss data dissemination issues and improve regional data access
  • Nominated and helped to seat successfully two current C2ER Board members and 4 other C2ER members on the newly chartered Workforce Information Advisory Committee; provided technical assistance and resource support to the WIAC
  • Participated in several Capitol Hill visits to Congressional staff representing the interests of statistical data users.
  • Signed on to several letters advocating for proper funding for Census, BLS, and BEA and supporting efforts to ensure the ACS remains mandatory.

Data Collection and Research Activities

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

  • Redesigned and published a new website in WordPress
  • Remodeled and issued 2016 County and State Level Cost of Living Index
  • Added API for the C2ER data products
  • Improved the process of library application authentication
  • Conducted online data scraping for housing and grocery items nationwide
  • Updated current basket of goods and services priced to reflect better the current consumption pattern of households
  • Partnered with COX publishing house in marketing cost of living index


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 2016-2017 state legislative changes
  • Added additional programs for all U.S. states, territories, and the District of Columbia
  • Updated the State of State Business Incentives Report to reflect the latest database changes
  • 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 2017 proposed expenditures, as well as FY 2015 actual and FY 2016 appropriated expenditures (when available), for all 50 states in the database
  • Produced brief “State of State Expenditures” for FY 2015 through FY 2017, highlighting broad national spending trends and major developments in individual states
  • Produced database glossary and made significant upgrades to the state economic development expenditure database to develop greater consistency in the reports for FY07 through FY16.


Other Policy and Economic Research and Technical Assistance

  • Facilitated day-long LMI Directors’ Town Hall at BLS National LMI Conference in Kansas City, KS
  • Initiated a two-year project on state data sharing laws, regulations and agreements for a project sponsored by Laura and John Arnold Foundation
  • Entered in to a contract with National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) to assess the data analytic opportunities that could generated by the National Labor Exchange database of job openings
  • Provided state incentives program 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