Training course conducted by Glen Weisbrod and Lisa Petraglia of Economic Development Research Group at the Annual Conference of C2ER - the Council for Community and Economic Research, 2007

Objective of the Training Course. Learn about new tools & the analysis techniques to identify new growth opportunities, understand your area's relative strengths & weaknesses to attract these opportunities, and get guidance on which economic development investments can do the most to facilitate these opportunities. This course will feature the use of the LEAP (Local Economic Assessment Package) software which will be provided to attendees*, though the knowledge gained through this training is of value to attendees regardless of techniques chosen in their future analyses. Users are encouraged to bring a lap-top with a wireless network card if you would like to simultaneously step through several analysis exercises.

What Participants take away from the training:
 Know how to step through a thorough evaluation of key local resources & facilities that can be leveraged towards development - quality and quantity of zoned parcels, readied buildings, labor force quality, tourism infrastructure, business support programs etc...
 Perform a comparative economic base analysis with respect to competing or linked areas with ease; understand which of the predicted growth potentials by industry face particular hurdles tied to the study area's relative competitive factors such as utility rates, tax burden etc...
 Test how growth opportunities change for the area - both in the level of economic activity & types of industry - under a key set of proposed policy/investment interventions to alleviate current growth barriers
 Understand the basis of economic assessment afforded by the LEAP - web-based software system
 Begin to craft a more plausible business attraction target list & economic development strategy

Slideshow of Training Materials - Analysis Techniques