Community Economic Development Preparedness Index
Web-Based Version (For communities outside of Wisconsin, the Center for Community Economic Development can develop a customized on-line survey specifically for your community for approximately $250. For more details, contact Andy Lewis at: andy.lewis@uwex.edu, 608-263-1432).
The purpose of this preparedness index is to help communities analyze strengths and weaknesses before developing a plan to improve economic development opportunities in the community.
The index is based on individual perceptions of activities and conditions in the community; over which you may or may not have some level of control. The compiled responses will provide a reflection of your community's readiness to
- retain existing businesses and income,
- attract new businesses, residents, and income, and
- expand small businesses and income within your community.
This index is based in part on the Community Economic Preparedness Index that was jointly produced in the early 1980's by the Wisconsin Department of Development, Wisconsin State Rural Development Council, and the Center for Community Economic Development, and the University of Wisconsin Extension. It was later modified by Mary Cole Laub of Alliant Energy and Karna Hanna, Executive Director, Sauk County Economic Development Corporation ("Community Economic Development Checklist"). The current version of the CEDPI on this web site, was made possible by funding from the Northern EDGE initiative with funding from the U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration.
So why another version?
Previous versions of the Community Economic Preparedness Index were really "checklists" more then a true index which would calculate a "score" for a community. The CCED thought there would be value in creating a true index that would allow a community to gauge progress over time and to seek out communities that had success on certain indicators. Furthermore, many of the checklist items on previous lists were not truly "black and white" issues with a "yes" and "no" option. And finally, it was a tedious task to tally responses by paper and come to some consensus on many of the issues in the index.
Previous versions of this tool were typically completed with a group of decision makers at a facilitated community meeting. While we are not suggesting the elimination of this face-to-face interaction, a web-based tool allows all interested citizens to participate in the process. Furthermore, as economic development strategies have become more sophisticated, the number of factors that contribute to a community's level of preparedness has grown in length....and the process of completing a preparedness index as a site-based activity has become tedious. The new web-based tool allows for the collection of input from anyone in the community and the analysis of data prior to a site-based meeting. By compiling the results prior to a public meeting, it allows for a more productive group discussion that focuses on the community's strength's, weaknesses, and issues where few people seem to know the answers.
How should my community utilize this tool?
The CEDPI is a very useful tool for determining how the community can better prepare for economic development that would retain, expand, and attract opportunities for adding jobs and income in the community. It is a first step in the community economic development process, or an opportunity for a community to take a step back and determine their level of preparedness. It provides the community with an overview of where additional investments might be needed or where investments have already been made.
Three approaches could be used:
- Distribute the paper version of the CEDPI to a group of decision makers and discuss the results in a group meeting
- Encourage a group of decision-makers and residents to complete the CEDPI on the web and follow up with a group meeting to discuss the results. See: http://www.uwex.edu/ces/cced/economies/econprep
- A combination of the two approaches above: Have some people meet to complete the index in a face-to-face environment and then supplement the collection of responses with web-based responses.
Because there are 96 questions in the new version, we would encourage you to consider the web-based version. By working with your County-based Community Resource Development Educator, we can tabulate the average scores, identify those issues where there was a high and low level of consensus, and give you a list of questions where few people knew the answers. When individuals go on-line to complete the index, they will have the opportunity to complete the index in one sitting or complete a portion and return at a later time using their pre-assigned password and e-mail address. When the user completes the index, they will be given their score for the community that they evaluated, a composite score for that particular community, and a comparison to the state average. For a few samples of what the final reports could look like, please see the reports completed for Superior and Douglas County by Fariba Pendleton.
We encourage anyone to complete this index for their community, but individual scores will only be shared with County-based Extension educators for educational purposes. Any results released to the community will retain individual confidentiality. The index is currently set-up to handle all incorporated villages and cities in the State of Wisconsin along with the 72 Counties. We think the index is most effective when it focuses on a specific community rather then a broader region like a County but we have provided that option.
If you have further questions about the use of this index within the state of Wisconsin, please contact Professor Andy Lewis at the Center for Community Economic Development.
Web-Based Version of the Community Economic Development Preparedness Index
Print Version of the Community Economic Development Preparedness Index
