On June 29th, 2016, the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, the President of the United States, Barack Obama, and the President of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, discussed ways to advance trade and competitiveness, at the 2016 North American Leaders’ Summit. 

Christophe Guichard and Tshanda Kalombo - From 17 to 19 November 2015, 77 national and regional cluster policy-makers, experts and researchers from both the United States and the European Union gathered in Boston and Washington for a workshop to exchange experiences and best practices on cluster mapping, cluster portals and cluster-based economic development policies.

Read the full report here

Brookings -- Innovation and STEM-worker (science, technology, engineering, and math) intensive “advanced industries” are the prime movers of regional and national economic competitiveness in the United States. Industries like aerospace and auto, oil and gas extraction, or software and health IT stand at the forefront of the most disruptive technological and business dynamics of the moment, and will be central to U.S. prosperity going forward.

The National Association of Counties and the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) Research Foundation, with support from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, have launched a new competition for communities experiencing economic challenges resulting from the contraction of the coal industry.

Join NACo and NADO on Thursday, 1/22 at 2pm ET to learn more about the challenge and ask questions to competition organizers. For more information about the competition, please read more.

Accelerating Industry-Led Regional Partnerships for Talent Development Federal Funding Opportunity Webinar
Wed, Dec 3, 2014 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM EST

EDA Assistant Secretary Jay Williams will provide an introduction of the Accelerating Industry-Led Regional Partnerships for Talent Development Federal Funding Opportunity. He will be joined by Kate McAdams, Senior Advisor to Department of Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker and Bryan Borlik, Director of the EDA Performance and National Programs division. 

Today, far too often important economic development decisions are being made with a lack of transparent, comparable data and analysis. U.S. Cluster Mapping takes one key step in the direction of bringing together state of the art research in clusters, combined with 52+ economic indicators into an online, open-data, open-source platform that allows practitioners to make more informed decisions about economic development, both in the U.S. and abroad. This webinar will be an interactive session that will take you through the tool and how best to use it to achieve your goals. 

17th TCI Global Conference
“Creating shared value through clusters for a sustainable future”
10-13 November 2014, Monterrey, Mexico
www.tci2014.org

James Warden, Finance and Commerce -- Minnesota and other states need to abandon conventional economic development strategies and instead zero in on sectors in which they have a competitive advantage and an established industry, speakers said Monday during a conference at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs. A cluster approach brings focus to economic development efforts that are often disconnected from the realities on the ground, said Michael Porter, a Harvard Business School professor who led the cluster mapping effort for the U.S.

Adam Belz -- Michael Porter was in the Twin Cities on Monday talking about regional clusters, American stagnation and the country's failed economic development efforts. He was helping roll out Cluster Mapping, which he, the U.S. Department of Commerce and many others hope will be a tool for better economic development policy. For the purposes of this blog, here are five takeaways from Porter's presentation, and from the data:

1.  Most Americans are struggling in the economy and it's not because of the recession.