Project Updates

Request for Qualifications: Policy Academy Facilitation
March 21, 2023

The Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness (CREC) is requesting proposals from interested parties to serve as a facilitator for team discussions in a Policy Academy over a period of ten months – April 1, 2023 to January 31, 2024.

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Strategic Positioning of MEP Centers in Providing Workforce Services
January 6, 2023

Small Manufacturing Enterprises (SMEs) fuel the U.S. economy. They compete through innovation, energy, and agility in response to rapidly changing global supply chain requirements and they take risks by introducing new processes and products. The vital role of SMEs, however, depends on a strong manufacturing workforce, and the challenges that SMEs face are particularly acute […]

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Incentives Roundtable: Remote Workers Impact on Compliance
January 20, 2021

Incentives Roundtable: Remote Workers Impact on Compliance Tuesday, March 16, 2021 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm ET Remote work became a more important part of the economic landscape in 2020. In response, many state economic development organizations are considering the impact of remote work on existing incentive performance agreements as companies endeavor to remain compliant […]

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Workshop: Designing and Managing Business Incentive Compliance Efforts
September 1, 2020

This workshop provides state agency staff with the skills and insights to implement best practices in incentives monitoring and management. The workshop reviews common operating procedures, identifies critical issues, and explores options and tradeoffs to help staff make intentional choices to protect taxpayer investments in business incentives. Agency staff will be able to review and redesign operating procedures, confident their approach will be effective, but not overly burdensome, in leveraging reliable data for monitoring business compliance and program performance.

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Webinar Recording: Perspectives on the Economy and What is Next for Recovery – A Digital Town Hall with Tom Barkin, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
August 14, 2020

The scale of the current pandemic‐driven economic crisis is unprecedented. What does the future hold for businesses, workers, and jobseekers as states move forward with reopening the economy? Can we expect a speedy recovery? During this digital town hall, President Barkin will share his perspectives on the economy and prospects for recovery, followed by an opportunity for participants to ask questions and share assessments about their own regional challenges.

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Collaborating with the Manufacturing Extension Partnership National Network to Reach the Defense Supply Chain Webinar
January 9, 2020

CREC hosted the second webinar in its cybersecurity series to discuss the DoD’s effort to leverage the network of Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Centers to build awareness among defense suppliers about cybersecurity requirements and compliance. Through an inter-agency agreement (between NIST and DoD), the DoD’s Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSDR&E) […]

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OEA Support for Defense Supply Chains Feedback Webinar
December 20, 2019

OEA engaged the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness (CREC) and Entreworks Consulting to review various efforts funded by the OEA Industry Resilience program to strengthen the manufacturing supply chains and strengthen the defense industrial base in your regions and states. This webinar included a briefing on the paper developed outlining these activities, OEA Support for Defense Supply Chains: Many Successes and Lessons Learned, followed by an opportunity for discussion and comments. 

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New NDIA Report Explores Cyber Threats and Responses in the Defense Industry
November 24, 2019

CREC hosted a webinar to discuss the National Defense Industry Association’s recent paper “Beyond Obfuscation: The Defense Industry’s Position within Federal Cybersecurity Policy” (https://www.ndia.org/policy/cyber/2019-cybersecurity-report). This report examines recent cyberbreaches, the evolving regulatory environment governing cybersecurity, and analyzes a survey of 300 defense suppliers and their experiences with cybersecurity. Furthermore, the report provides recommendations for government and industry based on their findings.

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New Report: Certifications and Licenses Attainment and Earnings for the Veteran Workforce
August 27, 2019

This report describes veterans’ attainment of certifications and licenses, with an emphasis on post-9/11 veterans. Utilizing a new data set derived from the 2016-2018 Current Population Survey (CPS), the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness (CREC) examined veterans’ attainment of certifications and licenses and associated earnings. CREC SOLID Veterans Certifications and License Report 09042019

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OEA Industry Resilience Grants Project Wisconsin Site Visit
March 18, 2019

As part of the OEA Industry Resilience Grants project (Formerly OEA – Defense Industry Adjustment), Cathy Katona and Mereb Hagos conducted a site visit to Fond de Lac and Oshkosh Wisconsin to meet with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) and East Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (ECWRPC) to close out their OEA grant. They […]

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