Technical Assistance

Our technical assistance aids policymakers and workforce development staff to better implement innovation and job-creation strategies by:

• Understanding the economic forces affecting regions and states
• Helping local leaders formulate knowledge-based strategies
• Developing transformational models that support knowledge-driven economic prosperity

Building On the Knowledge Economy

The Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness (CREC) uses information and data to create resources and toolkits so that state and national policymakers can evaluate, shape, and implement effective and state- and region-specific programs that promote economic development efforts.

Many of our technical-assistance efforts are aimed at: federal agencies, regional and state offices, private nonprofits, educational institutions, and sub-state regional coalitions.

While our primary area of policy expertise relates to economic development, workforce development, and education, our network extends beyond these policy areas through the Association of Public Data Users (APDU) into a variety of fields ranging from health care, criminal justice and housing, and demographics to transportation.

Related Projects

Baltimore Maryland Philanthropies
Baltimore Workforce Funders Collaborative
Start Date: Jun 2019 — End Date: Jul 2019

CREC is providing guidance to the Baltimore Workforce Funders Collaborative on strategies for designing and implementing a proposed integrated data system.  BWFC received a grant to support the technical development of a shared data system, and CREC is helping with exploring stakeholder goals and objectives through the system to develop a scope of work to […]

Counting Postsecondary and Secondary Credentials in the US, Credential Engine, 2017-2018
George Washington University Institute of Public Policy
Start Date: Oct 2017 — End Date: Feb 2019

CREC collaborated with the George Washington University Institute of Public Policy to determine a typology and count of U.S. credentials for Credential Engine—a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to promoting transparency and credential literacy in the marketplace to reveal the world of credentials and inform the public. The project included preparing a comprehensive list of websites that […]

NC Justice Center Paper
North Carolina Justice Center
Start Date: Jul 2018 — End Date: Jul 2018

Communities across North Carolina are seeking ways to expand and extend apprenticeship program participation to address youth unemployment and employer-reported skill gaps and to make these programs more effective at meeting the needs of employers and students alike. CREC is working with the North Carolina Justice Center to conduct research that 1) identifies the barriers […]

International Engagement Ready Communities Initiative
U.S. Economic Development Administration
Start Date: Oct 2017 — End Date: Jun 2018

CREC is collaborating with SRI International’s Center for Innovation Strategy and Policy (CISP) and Stone & Associates to produce a rigorous, validated set of tools that can be used by regions across the United States to develop and execute a plan to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and foster export promotion. The IERC Initiative began […]

Manufacturing USA Access Project, 2017
Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center
Start Date: Jul 2017 — End Date: Apr 2018

CREC provided advice and counsel to DVIRC in support of its Defense Industry Adjustment project.  DVIRC sought to create a collaboration model between DVIRC and the Manufacturing USA Institutes that would connect DoD small to medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs) to the technology and expertise in Institutes, assuming the presence of Institute satellite facilities in the Philadelphia […]