Colleges and universities are key stakeholders in regional economic development efforts, which are both affected by and drive local economic conditions. Institutions nationwide are looking to leverage their ability to be stewards of their communities and foster economic development, and the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) has funded a one-stop shop for data and best practices to inform their strategies. StatsAmerica is designed for economic developers to use in site requests, developing metrics, grant writing and strategic planning. It combines thousands of data items from hundreds of data sets from dozens of federal and state sources, as well as private sources. Visitors can, among other things, access a searchable database of EDA’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategies, study industry or occupation clusters in their area, and determine whether their region meets federal grant thresholds for distressed areas.

StatsAmerica is housed at the Indiana Business Research Center at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. To read more about StatsAmerica, click here. To access their datasets, click here.