Project Updates

The report that CREC completed for the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) will be featured at the “Entrepreneurship for All” event at the Center for American Progress on October 13, 2016. You can find out more information and register for the event here.

  Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness (CREC) CEO Kenneth Poole was recognized Monday for his work to promote efforts around the U.S. Census Bureau’s Local Employment Dynamics (LED) program. In doing so, Census noted that his efforts raise the bar on practices that help America’s jobs, workers, and local economies. Poole, who founded CREC in 2000, stated […]

Topic Overview Workforce development—or Talent Development—encompasses initiatives that educate and train individuals to meet the needs of current and future business and industry in order to maintain a sustainable competitive economic environment.  In a recent survey of corporate executives, two of the top three most important site selection factors relate to workforce development (Citation: “The Role of Workforce […]

Topic Overview Promoting entrepreneurship is an increasingly visible part of the national innovation strategy for achieving sustainable growth and quality jobs. Not only do startups bring a wealth of transformative innovations to market, they also play a critical role in job creation across the United States, especially among traditionally disadvantaged populations. Entrepreneurs that grow their […]

Topic Overview Regional innovation clusters represent concentrations of companies that develop innovative products and services, along with specialized suppliers, service providers, universities, and other associated institutions. The idea that this concentration of activity is important as a foundation for economic growth has been well known for decades by academics and was one of the founding […]

Topic Overview Technology acceleration is defined as integrating technology into the products, processes, services and business models of existing companies to solve existing problems in the commercial marketplace or to help the private sector pursue opportunities that will result in growth. Technology acceleration is an ideal for economic development that incorporates the entire innovation continuum, […]

Small Business Finance Topic Overview Access to capital is a lifeblood for small businesses – it helps businesses expand, hire new workers, build a new factory, or buy a piece of new equipment. Small business financing is a structural problem. While small businesses employ nearly half of Americans, they have difficulty accessing private capital markets. […]

Topic Overview Foreign direct investment (FDI) represents the recruitment of a new company from outside the U.S., and it has long been an important policy priority for states. FDI is important for economic growth and well-being because it provides jobs, fuels innovation, and creates long term economic relationships between the U.S. and its trading partners. […]

Topic Overview Manufacturing is a critical priority for almost every state because it serves as the foundation for the economy and provides a broad array of opportunities for American workers to find family-sustaining jobs. Manufacturing contributes to the economy in other important ways as well: Jobs: The U.S. manufacturing sector today employs 12 million Americans. […]