Research
In a time when knowledge is often the difference maker for communities, we seek to provide you with timely and relevant research to inform your decision-making. By getting to know your community very well, we can provide you with objective, third-party advisory services.
Through our Sustainable Development Report Card, we employ an analysis of more than 100 different measures and indicators to create realistic benchmarks of a community’s socioeconomic conditions in order to measure future progress. Based on this analysis, which includes a review of similar data for peer communities, we provide ratings relating to community growth and change, fiscal capacity, self-sufficiency, economic base, workforce, youth development, education, civic and social capital, community health, and environmental preservation.
Through our Strategic Assessments, we investigate matters of priority importance to you. Through a combination of a variety of techniques – which may include data research, stakeholder interviews, surveys, focus groups, and field visits – we examine current conditions and factors that may influence future conditions. Each assessment includes a set of recommendations for addressing challenges or pursuing opportunities. Following are examples of past assessments.
- Business Development Opportunities
- Economic Development Program Capacity
- Entrepreneur Development Readiness
- Existing Business and Industry Support
- Human Services
- Industrial Infrastructure and Development
- Local Public Policy
- Technology Utilization
- Tourism Opportunities
- Workforce Development
We also conduct Customized Studies on public policy matters affecting economic development. Examples of past investigations include: the development potential of the biotechnology industry in Georgia; economic development benefits associated with having zoning; the needs of independent inventors in Georgia; services by inventor assistance organizations across the United States; and the utilization of e-commerce in rural Georgia.
For more information on Research, please contact Dana King.