March 26, 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.
White House Cites Cluster Mapping Site as a Key Online Tool for Foreign Investors at SelectUSA on March 23, 2015
 
The United States is the bright spot in the global economy, further proof that the President's middle class economic agenda is working. More than 12 million jobs have been created over the last 60 months, and wages are beginning to rise again. In fact, U.S. businesses have added more than 200,000 jobs per month every month for 12 consecutive months-the first time that's happened in 37 years. The Department of Commerce has also made the website clustermapping.us, a joint project of the Harvard Business School and the Economic Development Administration, available to investors and economic developers. The Cluster Mapping website provides data and tools that make it easier for investors to identify regional concentrations of specific industries and locate potential economic partners.   Read more
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker Announces Top Data Leaders to Join New Data Advisory Council
 
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker recently announced the members of the new Commerce Data Advisory Council (CDAC), who include 19 of the best and brightest private and public sector thought leaders on data management and dissemination in the United States. The Council will help guide the Commerce Department's data revolution, which aims to foster innovation, help create jobs, and drive better decision-making throughout our economy and society.   Read more
Kauffman Releases New Report on "Measuring an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem"
 
How do you measure your entrepreneurial ecosystem? How should you interpret the data about your startup community? What economic indicators should matter for vibrancy and growth? These questions come up repeatedly in conversations with entrepreneurs, program heads, event organizers, investors, policymakers, and others. The frequency of these queries reflects the phenomenon: With the rapid spread of efforts to build entrepreneurial ecosystems, it's only natural to wonder what outcomes should be tracked. And, what you track depends on what you're trying to achieve.   Read more
San Diego Launches Initiative to Boost Blue Tech Industry Cluster
 
The County of San Diego and the City of San Diego today approved a maritime vision for the region that will include forming a Blue Tech incubator to create jobs and businesses. As part of that vision, the agencies will develop a Blue Tech incubator to create more jobs and businesses in water technology, aquaculture, underwater robotics and other related industries. The joint action promotes "San Diego as a leading global maritime technology center," according to a resolution.  Read more
150+ International Cluster Studies Completed by MOC Students
 
A key requirement of the Microeconomics of Competitiveness Course (MOC) at the Harvard University School of Business is a student-led team project that analyzes the competitiveness of a specific cluster in a country or region and includes targeted action recommendations. Each project involves extensive and detailed analyses, and the final reports are made publicly available so as to provide a valuable resource for researchers, government officials, and other interested stakeholders. Each of these projects completed from 2006-2013 will be uploaded to the Resources page of the US Cluster Mapping web site and are also available on the MOC web page.
Read more
View our events list online. Interested in attending an event, or wish to recommend one? Contact us!
Northeast

April 4, Boston, MA:   TEDxBU (Technology, Entertainment and Design/ Boston University)   Learn more

April 9, Cambridge, MA:   NECA Dinner Meeting (Northeast Energy and Commerce Association)   Learn more
Mid-Atlantic

April 6, Washington, DC:   Questioning the Legality and Legitimacy of Responses to the 2008 Financial Crisis (Brookings Institution) Learn more

April 27, Pittsburgh, PA:   National EPA Water Technology Innovation Cluster Leaders Meeting (Water Economy Network)  Learn more

South


April 8-10, Palmetto, FL:   3.0 Leaders Conference (Spark Growth)   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 19-24, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois:  The Third Americas Competitiveness Exchange on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Inter-American Competitiveness Network) Learn more
 
April 26-28, Chicago, IL:  Great Lakes Economic Forum (Council of the Great Lakes Forum)  Learn more
 
May 13-15, Omaha, NE:  Best Practices Conference (Mid-America Economic Development Council)  Learn more

June 7-9, Madison, WI:  IEDC Economic Future Forum (International Economic Development Council)  Learn more

October 26-28, Oklahoma City, OK:  SSTI's 19th Annual Conference (State Science and Technology Institute)  Learn more
 
West

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 Laboratory Consortium)  Learn more

June 8-12, Portland, OR:  C2ER Annual Conference and LMI Institute Annual Forum (The Council for Community and Economic Research, Labor Market Information Institute)  Learn more

June 19-22, San Francisco, CA:  83rd Annual Conference of Mayors (United States Conference of Mayors)  Learn more

October 4-7, Anchorage, AK:  IDEC Annual Conference (International Economic Development Council)  Learn more
International

April 16-17, Sydney, Australia:  TCI Australasian Cluster Conference (The Competitiveness Institute)  Learn more

June 16-19, Medellin, Colombia:  TCI Latin American Cluster Conference (The Competitiveness Institute)  Learn more

Webinars

April 14, 2:00-3:00 PM EST:  Urban Institute: Mapping America's Futures (The Council for Community and Economic Research, Labor Market Information Institute) Learn more

April 23, 2:30-4:00 PM EST:   Shifting Workforce Development into High Gear (International Economic Development Council) Learn more

Women in Economic Development
The U.S. Small Business Administration has just launched InnovateHER, a competition designed to unearth innovative products and services that help impact the lives of women and families. Learn more
Energy Department Announces $2.5 Million to Inspire Collegiate Clean Energy Entrepreneurs
The Energy Department announced $2.5 million in available funding for the Cleantech University Prize (Cleantech UP), which aims to inspire the next generation of clean energy entrepreneurs. This funding opportunity will support the commercialization of promising technologies for sectors such as solar and wind that reduce carbon pollution and grow the clean energy economy. 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