Helping Communities Shine

Whether researching and implementing ways to shape a community's economic development plan or partnering to create ways to put people to work, CREC connects researchers and policymakers with:

• Data training
• Custom portfolios that aid regional competitiveness

Project Profile

Counting on Arizona’s Future: A Report to the Arizona Data Estimates and Population Task Force

Arizona Commerce Authority
Start Date: Jan 2006 — End Date: Oct 2007

Governor Janet Napolitano created the Arizona Data Estimates and Population Task Force (ADEPT) to undertake several key tasks:

Evaluate best practices by other states for developing accurate population and employment estimates and projections

Assess population estimates and projections models currently used by entities in Arizona

Evaluate current employment estimates to include estimates of income and labor capacity and creating employment projections consistent with the population projections

Evaluate best practices by other states for access to utilization of labor market information

Make recommendations to enhance the population and labor market data programs

The Council for Community & Economic Research (C2ER) and the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness (CREC) provided consulting support to ADEPT, conducting research on best practices in other states and facilitating the development of recommendations. ADEPT not only adopted the recommendations, but the Governor began implementation of key governance recommendations before the study was even finalized.

About the Client

Arizona Commerce Authority

The Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) is an aggressive new organization that has a laser focus on recruitment of quality companies and jobs for Arizona as well as the expansion of companies already here. The ACA, formerly the Arizona Department of Commerce, has been re-created as a streamlined, business-savvy organization focused on producing results that benefit businesses and the Arizona economy.