There are many sources available to help economic development professionals. Some of these sources are free while others are subscription or fee based. The scope of the following guide is a comprehensive selection of sources which economic developers can use to gain information and ultimately attract industry. While this guide will be beneficial to all economic development organizations, it is primarily aimed at the smaller or less advantaged organizations who are unable to afford an in-house librarian, information consultant or full research team.

Table of Contents

The Economic Development Support Services and Associations lists a number of resources which will aid economic development professionals in their efforts to attract industries. It is intended to provide sources of support by identifying contacts with other economic development officials and groups. Some of the groups and associations have actual courses which teach economic development officials how to best perform their duties; others identify resources which these professionals will find helpful in their efforts.

Land & Infrastructure is intended to focus on issues related to site selection, the ever-changing environmental concerns and policies, and give insight about how to approach challenges when restructuring sites and communities due to the closing of either military bases or large industries. The Infrastructure Resources section provides resources for statistical data on transportation programs, infrastructure funding and geographic information. Additionally, sources are listed which can provide users with estimates of shipping and freight costs. While utility rates and costs are location specific, resources are listed which give a general idea about cost comparisons among the states and regions. Most industrial prospects factor infrastructure and transportation costs in to their site selection decisions.

Comparative Information & Data list sources for comparative information on the different taxes, incentives and other data for the United States. Included are web pages for incentives, statistical, and tax resources.

Labor and Training Resources is the most important section in this guide. Labor and training are the two things that concern company officials the most. Labor shortages are rampant throughout the country and these sources attempt to provide information about how to correctly assess and explain labor availability and identifies sources for training labor in order to provide a strong workforce.

Information about industrial prospects is pertinent in economic development. Company Information lists sources which economic development officials can use to find out about a company's financial status, their product line, any good or bad press, and other information which is needed to ensure the company is a good fit into the community. Some of the resources are made available by private companies while others are provided by the government or consumer groups. Industry Information provides sources of information about industries and how they may affect a community or economy. Additionally, sources are listed which give an industry-by-industry overview.

Business Journals and Periodicals are magazines and other serials which are either entirely devoted to economic development or contain articles or studies useful in economic development.

Economic Development Support Services and Associations

University of Washington, Foster Library is a site which list a number of business libraries. These libraries have online capabilities which enable a user to perform searches and queries on business related topics. These links have information about company directories, stocks & financial data, company news, corporate reports collection and bibliographies & guides as well as industry classification, general industry statistics, individual industry statistics and industry news This is an easy and informative site for quick business related information.

The University of Pittsburgh's list of 132 community development web sites is a resource for individuals interested in community development organizations (CDC), community-based organizations (CBO) and other economic development sites. The university established criteria and created this list that includes their selection of the top 20 national sites and the top 20 international sites.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has a number of useful links important to economic development. Their website discusses business issues, associations, available publications, recent policy decisions related to business, as well as provides a forum for chat groups. It is a good source to keep up with current events.

Within the H. John Heinz School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University is the Center for Economic Development, one of several policy centers at the Heinz School. The Center for Economic Development is researching a number of different economic development initiatives including regional economic benchmarking and strategy development, other sustainable economic strategies, and pursuing economic growth while promoting environmental sustainability.

The Economic Development Society is a source for technical literature for academics, practitioners, and entrepreneurs. This site also provides information on economic development Internet connections and conferences.

The Economist is now available through the Internet. Economic developers can use this web site to access articles, survey data and more.

The Interactive Economic Development Network is a valuable on-line resource center for economic development practitioners searching for information, via the Internet, about the economic development industry.

Center for Urban Economic Development (CUED) represents the diverse interests in economic development, from the public sector economic developer to chamber of commerce executive, to site selection consultant. By becoming involved in this organization, economic development officials can benefit from the tools, ideas, resources, contacts and legislative activities conducted by CUED.

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) enables its members to consult and cooperate with each other in order to achieve the highest sustainable economic growth in their countries and improve the economic and social well-being of their populations. The OECD offers advice and makes recommendations to its members to help them to define their policies. On occasion its also arbitrates negotiations of multilateral agreements and establishes legal codes in certain areas of activity.

Economic Development Institute (EDI) assists clients through learning programs to build capacity for improving the quality of their development efforts. The Institute offers training to governments and organizations in topics related to economic development. This training supports the overall objective of poverty reduction through sustainable and equitable development.

The World Chambers Network is an electronic meeting place for seeking new business opportunities, to reach new customers, to gather up-do-date business intelligence and to connect to economic development teams. It brings together a comprehensive network of international Chambers of Commerce and strategic global business partners. The World Chambers Network offers opportunities for businesses to grow and find new capital investment opportunities.

Land and Infrastructure Resources

The BankAmerica Corporation Brownfields Redevelopment web site provides background information on brownfield redevelopment and more detailed information on the financial risks and opportunities in brownfield redevelopment strategies.

Fink Zausmer sponsors a brownfield legal discussion page that provides a guide to brownfield laws and regulations at the federal and state levels.

A well established center for research and analysis on land policies, the Urban Land Institute (ULI) is a source for information on urban planning, growth and economic development. ULI members and associates represent all fields related to land use and development.

Site Selection magazine is a monthly publication that is available through subscription for the print version or free of charge by accessing it online. This magazine is published by the International Development Research Council (IDRC) which is an association of corporate real estate professionals. This magazine focuses on the aspects of site location and concentrates on industry trends, business strategies, development groups, and regional and industry reviews.

Area Development magazine is an information source for site and facility planning. It identifies the important criteria required for making new industrial and corporate facility decisions. Monthly, Area Development identifies and analyzes critical questions and trends and presents analysis that make the difference between a cost effective location choice or a costly error. Each year, Area Development also publishes several specialty publications centered on industrial sectors and world markets.

Advanced Geographic Information Systems is an organization for municipalities, utilities, and local governments which offers GIS solutions. Services include consulting, city planning, surveying, photogrammetry, digital orthophotos and land assessment.

The EPA's office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response maintains a Brownfields Page to keep economic developers, government officials and community groups abreast of new information and resources available for the clean-up and reuse of brownfields.

Part of the EPA web site, Enviro$en$e is a clearinghouse for information on pollution control, remediation and enforcement issues. Case studies, databases, and strategies for remedying pollution problems are also available through this site.

The Environmental News Newsletter provides updates on the latest news and information on environmental issues. The newsletter includes reports on federal and state decision and actions.

The Northeast-Midwest Institute's web site has detailed information on the cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated industrial sites. The Institutes database provides a unique source of brownfield data and contacts. It includes on-line publications, including the popular Coming Clean for Economic Development, lists of state and EPA brownfield contacts, case studies, and updates on congressional bills. The brownfield information can be found under "Environmental Quality" on the Northeast-Midwest Institute's home page.

Environmental Protection Agency--Environmental Indicators by State -- This homepage provides access at one location to readily available environmental data that may be useful as environmental indicators to report status and trends in environmental conditions, or to assess progress in public and private environmental protection efforts at various geographic scales. The principal point of entry for obtaining data on-line within this homepage provides EPA data aggregated nationally or by state. County-level and zip-code aggregation queries can also be done. Additional on-line data and documents from other U.S. EPA homepages and numerous other websites are accessible via hot links from this homepage.

The Ecological Society of America (ESA) is a non-profit scientific organization that conducts ecological research, communicates information about ecological issues and promotes the consideration of ecological impact of development policies.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) web site is a source for technical literature on the economic benefits and costs of pollution control. Other environmental reports related to economic development issues are also available.

The Department of Defense sponsors the Defense Conversion & Technology Transfer (EDA) which was created to assist businesses negatively impacted by base closings and by defense industry downsizing. This web site provides information on education and training programs geared toward improving US manufacturing skills and retraining displaced defense industry workers.

Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) allows economic developers to access data on national transportation statistics, transportation programs and geographical information services. In addition, users can request information from the National Transportation Library and databases.

The Energy Information Administration provides economic developers with information on the energy industry, petroleum, natural gas, coal, nuclear, electric and renewable energy. This web site provides publication, program, and overview information.

Comparative Information & Data

The Economic War Among the States, sponsored by National Public Radio, is a symposium of national discussion about using tax incentives, training, subsidies, land and cash payments to attract businesses and jobs from other states.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) maintains a "Tax Stats" page that provides economic developers with statistical information on individuals, corporations, tax exempt organizations, and other entities. Users can also retrieve data files from the Statistics of Income (SOI) program and other IRS sources.

State Code of Law site includes cases and codes as well U.S. Supreme Court and Circuit court opinions and the US Code. It lists all 50 states and is an excellent source for legislation for each state.

A leader in policy development for state governments, the Council of State Governments (CSG) has produced research studies examining state financial capacity and economic development. This council seeks policies and solutions to many of the problems facing today's state governments.

Through the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) web site, users can access data on regional, national and international business and economic statistics, including the gross domestic product. Also accessible through this site is the BEA monthly journal of record, the Survey of Current Business, which provides users with a comprehensive package of estimates, analysis, research and methodology.

Bureau of Justice Statistics site identifies both local and national crime statistics and other related data. (Crimes reported to the police, police employment, homicide data, law enforcement officers killed and assaulted, arrests, ex.)

The US Department of Commerce maintains Stat-USA a comprehensive source for federal government marketing and economic information. This web site offers information on economic updates and data, international trade, statistical information, and procurement opportunities.

For the official statistics on social, demographic and economic information users should visit the web site of the US Census Bureau. Of particular interest to economic developers are the current economic indicators including data on manufacturing, trade, construction and jobs.

The State Data Centers (SDC) program, sponsored by the US Census Bureau, assists users in accessing and using census data in research and planning for economic development initiatives. This web site also provides a directory of census data center web sites.

County Business Patterns (Alternate Site) accesses a database of county, state and national business and development data. The Bureau of the Census annually collects the statistics used in this database.

Labor and Training Resources

For information on jobs and the economy visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Here users can access data on employment, productivity/technology, prices, compensation/working conditions, international programs and many other types of data and publications.

Economic developers can use the W.E. Upjohn Institute web site for research on employment related issues. Through this web site, users can access publications and reports on employee training, compensation systems, training programs in economically disadvantaged areas and more.

Insights: Representing Management in Labor Law and Complex Litigation, Ellzey & Brooks, LLC
This is a free quarterly newsletter published by a law firm specializing in labor relations. While the law offices are mainly in North and South Carolina, the information generally regards federal statutes. It is full of information regarding the changing labor environment and provides useful information in easy to read language. The following web site has past and current issues of the newsletter.

Economic developers interested in customized corporate training and development should visit Dowling College's Dowling Institute web site. The institute fosters partnerships among business, governments, and community groups to enhance local corporation's competitive edge and further educate and train the local workforce.

For economic developers dealing with education and training issues, the National Center for Education Statistics web site at the Department of Education can provide statistical data and analysis on education in the U.S. and other nations. This data can also give users the necessary information on the supply of trained workers by regional area.

Company and Industry Information

Hoovers Online publishes information about more than 12,000 public and private companies worldwide. Hoovers has profiles and information about companies on the web. Hoover's Company Capsules are a free source of basic information and useful links for companies covered. Hoover's Company Profiles offer in-depth information on 3,000 companies. They cover each company's strategy, history, products and operations, competitors, and financial performance. The profiles are available through subscription and online licenses.

NEXIS Service. Dayton, OH: Mead Data Central.
Online access to more than 750 sources, including articles, publications, news wire services, financial reports (SEC), accounting standards (NAARS) and other files, many in full-text and covering many years.

Edgar Online provides access to all current and historical SEC filings. This fee-based source is a good resource for information about U.S. company intelligence. Users are able to perform searches, analyze and use SEC filings quickly and easily.

Wall Street Research Network has information on U.S. and Canadian companies. This easy to use online database is free of charge for most information requests. The information provided about companies includes company profiles, research reports, financial status of companies as well as over 500,000 links to other resources for company information.

Zacks Investment Research is a fee-based online database that has information about company earnings and financial performance. Zacks is primarily a financial resource however, it also offers company profiles and research as well as balance sheet information.

In recent years, the Department of Energy (DOE) has been geared toward enhancing America's industrial competitiveness by transferring existing technologies from the department to the private sector. DOE does so through partnerships that work to improve manufacturing processes and the introduction of new processes.

Business Journals & Periodicals

There are a number of magazines and journals that have articles related to economic development. A number of these have annual rankings on all sorts of topics ranging from education to site selection.

American Demographics Magazine offers users a variety of demographics and marketing tools for increasing the economic activity of a business or region.

Demographics Journal lists the gross state product for each state. They break down different sectors including manufacturing and the service sector.

Inc. annually lists the top 500 companies in the US. Full contents of the 14 annual issues of Inc. and four annual issues of Inc. Technology are posted at Inc. All stories back to 1988 are available for free in the online archives.