January 27, 2015
Mapping a nation of regional clusters

The U.S. Cluster Mapping Portal (ClusterMapping.us) provides over 50 million open data records on industry clusters and regional business environments to promote economic growth and U.S. competitiveness.  The project is led by Professor Michael Porter through Harvard Business School's Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness in partnership with the U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. Economic Development Administration.

October 2, 2014 webinar walkthrough, presented to SelectUSA
Maine Food Cluster Project Featured in Portland Press Herald

The Maine Food Cluster Project will uncover the factors driving the state's booming agricultural economy as early as this spring. Right now, Maine business owners and policymakers are searching for ways to accelerate the growth of an already-thriving economy that supports artisan food businesses, farms, and restaurants. To this end, a team of Harvard researchers (partially funded by the Libra Foundation) is currently identifying support organizations and studying food clusters around the U.S. - all using the U.S. Cluster Mapping Portal. "There are some really interesting things happening," Craig Denekas, president of the Libra Foundation, said.   Read more
President Obama Focuses on Competitiveness in State of the Union Address
 
Photo by Pete Souza
In the January 20, 2015 State of the Union address, President Obama focused on the importance of competitiveness in the American economy. Highlights included:

"Our manufacturers have added almost 800,000 new jobs. Some of our bedrock sectors, like our auto industry, are booming. But there are also millions of Americans who work in jobs that didn't even exist 10 or 20 years ago: jobs at companies like Google, and eBay, and Tesla. So no one knows for certain which industries will generate the jobs of the future. But we do know we want them here in America. We know that. That's why the third part of middle-class economics is all about building the most competitive economy anywhere, the place where businesses want to locate and hire..."  Read more
Larry Summers' New Prosperity Report Mentions Importance of Cluster Mapping
 
The Center for American Progress' Commission on Inclusive Prosperity (co-chaired by Harvard University President Emeritus Larry Summers) has released a robust economic report which includes an in-depth discussion of innovation, regional clusters, and the U.S. Cluster Mapping Project.   Read more
February 11: IEDC presents "Using the U.S. Cluster Mapping Tool"
 
Date: February 11, 2015
Time: 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm ET
Price: Free

Today, far too often important economic development decisions are being made with a lack of transparent, comparable data and analysis. The U.S. Cluster Mapping website takes one key step in the direction of bringing together state of the art research in clusters combined with 52+ economic indicators into an online, open-data, open-source platform that allows practitioners to make more informed decisions about economic development, both in the U.S. and abroad. The U.S. Cluster Mapping website is evolving to serve as the national portal to track cluster-led economic development efforts, identify best practices, and diffuse new data and insights. This webinar will be an interactive session that will take you through the tool and how best to use it to achieve your goals. Learn more
Call for Entries: IEDC's Excellence in Economic Development Awards
 
IEDC's Excellence in Economic Development Awards recognize the world's best economic development programs and partnerships, marketing materials, and the year's most influential leaders. These 34 awards honor organizations and individuals for their efforts in creating positive change in urban, suburban, and rural communities. Winners are recognized at IEDC's Annual Conference.  Learn more
View our events list online. Interested in attending an event, or wish to recommend one? Contact us!
Northeast

February 6, Cambridge, MA: MIT SWIM Conference - Breaking the Mold (MIT Sloan Women in Management)  Register

February 27-28, Cambridge, MA: MIT Energy Conference  Learn more
 
Mid-Atlantic

February 8-10, Washington, DC: NARC's 2015 National Conference of Regions (National Association of Regional Councils)  Register

February 9-11, Washington, DC: ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit (U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy)  Register

February 21-23, Washington, DC: National Governors Association Winter Meeting  Learn more

February 21-25, Washington, DC: NACo Legislative Forum (National Association of Counties)  Learn more

March 19-20, Washington, DC: CDVCA Annual Conference (Community Development Venture Capital Association)  Learn more

March 22-25, Washington, DC: Washington Policy Conference, "NADO on the Hill" (National Association of Development Organizations)  Register

March 23-24, Washington, DC: SelectUSA Investment Summit  Learn more

March 29-31, Arlington, VA: 2015 Federal Economic Development Forum (IEDC)  Register

 

South


March 20-27, New Orleans, LA: New Orleans Entrepreneur Week (Idea Village)  Learn more

October 24-27, New Orleans, LA: NADO Annual Training Conference (National Association of Development Organizations)  Learn more
 
Midwest
 
April 10-11, Omaha, NE: Midwest Entrepreneurship Conference  Learn more
 
April 26-28, Chicago, IL: Great Lakes Economic Forum (Council of the Great Lakes Forum)  Register
 
May 13-15, Omaha, NE: Best Practices Conference (Mid-America Economic Development Council)  Register
 
West

January 28-29, Juneau, AK: JEDC Innovation Summit (Juneau Economic Development Council)  Register

April 26-29, Denver, CO:  NBIA 29th International Conference on Business Incubation (National Business Incubation Association)  Learn more

April 28-30, Denver, CO:  FLC National Meeting (Federal Labroatory Consortium)  Learn more

June 19-21, San Francisco, CA:  83rd Annual Conference of Mayors (United States Conference of Mayors)  Learn more
International

March 25-26, Dabrowa Gornicza, Poland: Cluster World Congress  Register

Webinars

February 5, 9:00AM-12:00PM, EST: Powering Prosperity: Introducing America's Advanced Industries (Brookings Institution) Register

February 10, 2:00-3:00PM, EST: Strengthening Labor Market Information with Enhanced Wage Records (C2ER) Register

February 11, 2:30-4:00PM, EST: Using the U.S. Cluster Mapping Tool (IEDC) Learn more (IEDC)  Learn more

NSF Partnerships for Innovation: Building Innovation Capacity. Deadline: Jan 28

Full Proposal Submission January 28, 2015, due 5:00 pm local time. The NSF Partnerships for Innovation: Building Innovation Capacity (PFI:BIC) program supports academia-industry partnerships to focus on post-discovery, academic-led research that advances, adapts and integrates technology into a human-centered smart service system and builds innovation capacity:
 - Technological innovation capacity
 - Human innovation capacity
 - Service system innovation capacity
Grants are for up to $1,000,000 for 3 years. There is a single funding competition each fiscal year.  Learn more
EDA's Planning and Local Technical Assistance Programs
Under the Planning program EDA assists eligible recipients in creating regional economic development plans designed to stimulate and guide the economic development efforts of a community or region. Applications accepted on a rolling basis. Learn more
BusinessUSA's Access Financing Wizard
To help you identify what government financing programs may be available to help you start or expand your business, check out the "Access Financing" Wizard from BusinessUSA. In a few quick steps, this wizard will guide you to government resources to access financing for your business! Learn more

Partners: MIT Sloan School of Management - Temple University, Fox School of Business - Phase2 Technology
Massachusetts Technology Collaborative - University of Minnesota, Humphrey School of Public Affairs
Oregon Business Council - New Carolina - STATS America - Regional Innovation Acceleration Network