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

What We Do

Project Catalogue

C2ER Cost of Living Index
Council for Community and Economic Research
Start Date: Jan 2000 — End Date: Ongoing

CREC conducts a quarterly survey of prices for a basket of consumer goods and services.  Published by C2ER, the Cost of Living Index provides a useful and accurate measure to compare cost of living differences among urban areas. Items on which the Index is based have been carefully chosen to reflect the different categories of […]

Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) Annual Conference
Council for Community and Economic Research
Start Date: Jan 2000 — End Date: Ongoing

The C2ER Annual Conference is held in conjunction with the LMI Institute Annual Forum, creating the premier national event for economic development researchers and labor market information analysts. The 2018 Conference will be held in Atlanta, GA, June 4-8. Conference highlights include industry-leading keynotes, training classes and breakout sessions, the annual State Economic Researchers’ Roundtable, […]

Development District Association of Appalachia (DDAA) Staff Support
Development District Association of Appalachia
Start Date: Jul 2018 — End Date: Ongoing

CREC is providing operational staff support to the Board of the Development District Association of Appalachia (DDAA).  The goal is to strengthen the capacity of the region’s local development districts (LDDs) to partner with the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) in developing a more cohesive membership, providing a voice for LDDs in Washington, and managing the […]

State Economic Development Program Expenditures Database
Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER)
Start Date: Jan 2007 — End Date: Ongoing

CREC gathers state economic development budget data and aggregates it into a database that allows on-going comparisons.  The expenditure data can be used by policy makers for ideas on new policy recommendations, state officers and agencies for comparing or and evaluating existing budget allocations, and economic development professionals for highlighting the spending in a particular […]

Local Employment Dynamics (LED) Partnership Webinar Training Series
U.S. Census Bureau, Longitudinal-Employer Household Dynamics Program
Start Date: Jan 2012 — End Date: Ongoing

C2ER and the LMI Institute work with the U.S. Census Bureau’s Longitudinal-Employer Household Dynamics Program to design, produce and conduct the Local Employment Dynamics (LED) Partnership webinar trainings series. This monthly webinar series seeks to explain the LED Partnership, the various data it provides, and the many capabilities of its systems, including presentations by data […]