August Newsletter
August 18, 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.
Registration Now Open for Inner City Economic Summit in Detroit
 
On September 15 and 16, thought leaders, policy makers, and business leaders will convene in Detroit, an epicenter of economic development and revitalization innovation, for the 11th Inner City Economic Summit to discuss leading edge research and practice on inner city economic development. This Summit will include keynote addresses by ICIC's founder and chairman, Harvard University Professor Michael E. Porter, and Rock Ventures' President and CEO, Matthew Cullen. This is a free event, but space is limited, and registration is required.  Read more
Regional Innovation Strategies Federal Funding Opportunity Now Open
 
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker has announced the launch of the Economic Development Administration's (EDA) $10 million funding opportunity for the 2015 Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS) Program competition. Under this program, the EDA is soliciting applications for two funding opportunities: the i6 Challenge, which funds organizations that help innovators and entrepreneurs turn ideas and research into viable, sustainable companies, and Seed Fund Support Grants, which funds regionally-focused seed capital funds that provide early-stage capital to innovation-based startups with a potential for high growth.  Read more
Clusters and Regional Economies: New Report by Dr. Christian Ketels

The Great Lakes - St. Lawrence Region, covering eight U.S. states and two Canadian provinces, is what economic developers call a 'macro region'. It is an area of intensive economic interaction through trade and value chain linkages. And it shares many similarities in terms of economic development, competitiveness issues, and institutional structure, culture, and history. These two factors make the Region an important arena for policy action, both in areas with strong cross-border implications and for those where challenges are similar but action will ultimately be local.   Read the full report
View our events list online. Interested in attending an event, or wish to recommend one? Contact us!

Northeast

August 16-19, Wilmington, DE:   CSG Eastern Regional Conference 55th Annual Meeting and Regional Policy Forum (Council of State Governments)   Learn more

September 17, Newark, NJ:   2015 CDFA New York/ New Jersey Financing Roundtable Conference (Council of Development Finance Agencies)   Learn more

September 29 - October 2, Buffalo, NY:   AURP 2015 International Conference (Association of University Research Parks)   Learn more

South


September 1-2, Arlington, VA:   2015 APDU Annual Conference (Association of Public Data Users)  Learn more

September 8-11, Orlando, FL:   NBIA's 25th Training Institute (National Business Incubation Association)  Learn more

October 24-27, New Orleans, LA:   NADO Annual Training Conference (National Association of Development Organizations)  Learn more

November 4-7, Nashville, TN:  
2015 Congress of Cities and Exposition (National League of Cities)  Learn more

November 18-19, Washington, D.C.:   Workshop on Workforce Development and Local Job Creation - An International Perspective (U.S. Department of Labor and the Organisation for Economic Co-operative and Development)  Learn more
 
Midwest

August 21-25, Madison, WI:  21st Annual Bowhay Institute for Legislative Leadership Development (Council of State Governments)  Learn more

September 15-16, Detroit, MI:  Inner City Economic Summit (Initiative for a Competitive Inner City)  Learn more

October 4-7, Indianapolis, IN:  COSCDA Annual Training Conference (Council of State Community Development Agencies)  Learn more

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

September 27-30, Anchorage, AK:  2015 UEDA Annual Summit (University Economic Development Association)  Learn more

September 27-30, Seattle, WA:  101st ICMA Annual Conference (International City/ County Management Association)  Learn more

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

November 19, Sacramento, CA:  2015 CDFA California Financing Roundtable Conference (Council of Development Finance Agencies)  Learn more

International

September 22-25, Beijing, China:  TCI 32nd IASP World Conference (International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation)  Learn more

October 21-24, Porto, Portugal:  Future Places Media Lab for Citizenship (UT Austin/ Portugal Program)  Learn more

November 3-6, Daegu, South Korea:  TCI 18th TCI Global Conference - Clusters in a Creative Economy: New agendas for Companies and Policy makers (The Competitiveness Institute)  Learn more

November 17-19, Barcelona, Spain:  2015 Smart City Expo World Congress (Fira Barcelona)  Learn more

Webinars

August 26, 3:00PM EDT:  Understanding the CTE Statistics Program (Association of Public Data Users)  Learn more

September 3, 10:30AM-12:00PM EDT:  What Happens When the Fed Raises Interest Rates? (Brookings)  Learn more

September 8, 2:00PM-3:00PM EDT:  CareerOneStop Resources and Tools for Economic Development and Workforce Analysis (The Council for Community and Economic Research)  Learn more

October 20, 3:00PM EDT:  Statistics for the World of Open Data (Association of Public Data Users)  Learn more

Up to $35 Million in Available Funding through POWER Initiative

Up to $35.5 million in funding is now available through the Partnership for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) initiative. POWER, which was announced at the end of March, is an EDA-led, coordinated effort among multiple federal agencies using existing resources to provide integrated and coordinated investments in communities negatively impacted by changes in the coal industry and power sector.  Read 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