 A national needs assessment was conducted as the first stage of the “Know Your Region” project to gauge the extent to which practitioners know and utilize core concepts of regionalism and cluster development. The survey also examined practitioner priorities for organization and community development, the technology needs required to improve and innovate successful development strategies, and the integration of economic development and workforce development.
The results of this survey served as the basis for the development of a curriculum aimed at assisting development practitioners in understanding and applying regionalism and clustering to their strategic planning process.
Practitioners from the following seven types of organizations were surveyed for this study: chambers of commerce, economic development commissions, local public agencies, regional planning commission, small business development centers, workforce development agencies, and rural development agencies.
942 practitioners representing every state in the nation, including the District of Columbia, participated in this study. The major findings from this study include:
- Most development practitioners view inter-jurisdictional cooperation and regionalism in economic development as positive; although those practitioners in organizations that serve suburban areas are somewhat less prone to this view than are rural and urban focused organizations.
- There is still a significant share of practitioners who think “going it alone” is a viable method for conducting development initiatives.
- Approximately two-thirds of respondents have attended a professional workshop on regionalism before, suggesting that the proposed curriculum has some base of knowledge on which to build.
- About one-half of respondents have some experience with cluster analysis based on attendance at a workshop.
- More than 8 out of 10 organizations that have conducted a cluster study actually use them in their daily practice, suggesting that cluster analysis and cluster concepts have some staying power beyond the initial study.
- About four fifths of development organizations provide financial support to enable their practitioners to attend professional development training.
To see the full report, click here .
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Policy Briefs
 Policy Brief"Economic Development Through Entrepreneurship”
 Policy Brief"Creating a Community Economic Development Plan”
 Policy Brief"Feasibility Studies, Economic Impact Studies, and Needs Assessments”
 Policy Brief"The Changing Role of Economic Development”
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Worksheet
Defining Your Region 
Video Scenario
