At the CED, we have been conducting regional and community data collection and analysis for more than fifteen years. We remain current with the latest theories, ideas, tools, and techniques to provide better data and better analysis for our partner communities in California. In 1999, we added economic impact analyses, and in 2004 we began conducting regional industry cluster analyses.
On June 3-5, 2010, I attended the joint conference of the Mid-Continent Regional Science Association and the IMPLAN Economic Impact Analysis System in St. Louis, Missouri. I went to hear what ideas and research have come from leading U.S. Universities over the past couple of years. Recently, the Midwest has been strong in the regional sciences with great research on topics like migration coming from places like Nebraska and Minnesota. I was curious about which ideas can be brought home to benefit our communities in California.
I came away from the conference with two general observations. First, there is an abundance of current research that we can use to help our communities and we will be attending conferences like this more often. The most noteworthy projects include an effort by Indiana's Ball State University to conduct industry cluster analysis that includes the location of local business dollar leakages. This data would help our industry cluster clients to drill down further and identify industry development opportunities that will help keep local dollars spent locally. Another great model, this one being built by the University of Missouri-Columbia, will develop an index of health care access which uses GIS mapping to track how far people in any particular area have to travel to receive health care services, ranging from a general practice physician to highly specialized surgeries. There were also research breakthroughs connecting broadband access with rural economic development that we might explore in the near future.
My second observation from the conference is that several of our recent projects need to be shared with other regional science practitioners. One example is the economic impact analysis we conducted for Plumas District Hospital by comparing the economic benefit of the hospital to the economic cost of the local property tax assessment used to keep the hospital running. Because the hospital keeps health care delivered locally and brings in additional funding grants, the benefit of the hospital clearly overshadows the cost of the property tax assessment. We also might present how we constructed an economic database for the Lake Tahoe Basin, which is composed of small parts of five different counties across two states, or how we draw service areas for health care organizations in support of grant proposals. None of the attendees with whom I spoke had heard of anyone doing these kinds of projects, at least not in the Midwest.
Over the next couple of months, we will be working to implement what we've learned at the conference, update our methodologies and product offerings accordingly, and plan our attendance at other regional science conferences in the coming year.
