CEAD Services
What we offer
The CEAD staff is available to apply their knowledge and expertise to real business problems through custom research and information services.
CEAD research staff will work with you to define research objectives and will then prepare a proposal for the work to be conducted. These commissioned studies are conducted on a fee-for-service basis, with fees covering the cost of staff time, materials and so on. Specific outputs of your tailored research will depend on the nature of your project and may include written reports, presentations or data files.
Benchmarking Local, State and Regional Economics
- Benchmarking studies provide an in-depth profile of economic conditions in a given area as a frame of reference for understanding the area’s economy. These studies profile the area’s economic structure (industry mix) and characteristics, comparing current performance to past performance or strategic goals, and also to the performance of other places viewed as peers.
Industry Profiles and Cluster Analyses
- Industry growth drives wealth creation in a region primarily through the export of goods and services. Cluster analysis identifies the regional economic relationships between inter-related industries and firms to provide a richer, more meaningful representation of local industry drivers and regional economic dynamics.
- SWAT analyses of regional industries and industry clusters highlight strategic opportunities to pursue and areas of weakness, which if addressed, would increase the industry’s competitive advantages.
Custom Data Aggregation and Research
- The most detailed data available for small local areas come from Census 2000 and the American Community Survey. The CEAD can aggregate these data across units as small as neighborhoods and block groups to produce detailed demographic and economic insights for special regions of interest, such as retail market areas or social service areas.
- In addition, the CEAD has access to its extensive database of statistics from other government agencies and private-sector sources to provide special insights needed to understand local or regional demographic and economic trends and market opportunities.
Forecasting
- What is the outlook for a regional economy or industry? The CEAD staff is available to produce short and long-term projections for regional economies and industries.
Economic impact and Cost/Benefit studies
- The CEAD uses fiscal cost-benefit and economic impact modeling methods to estimate the impacts of changes in economic activity on an area’s economy such as building a new plant, the loss of a major employer or the impact of a special event.
- These studies estimate economic impacts in terms of the dollars and jobs gained or lost in the area’s economy and the impact on state and local revenue collections. The losses or gains include the direct effects of the new activity itself, as well as the indirect and induced effects resulting from business purchases and employee payroll expenditures.
Population projections
- CEAD uses adjusted cohort survival modeling to produce population projections, which extend population trends by age, sex and race into the future.
- Such projections offer valuable inputs to long-term planning by businesses, government agencies, school districts, and other users.
Labor Force Analysis
- The CEAD staff is available to produce projections of workplace skills that, combined with occupational projections, help identify potential workforce gaps and highlight opportunities to address those gaps through training and other programs.
- Have you ever wondered what impact education has on earnings? The CEAD can provide estimates of the effects of training programs on associated wage gains and the resulting economic and fiscal impact on a local, regional or state economy.