Data Deep Dive Webinar Series Recordings

To reach its full potential, a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) should be grounded in accurate and accessible data that facilitates a region-wide conversation about economic development.  Without a solid understanding of key metrics, trends, demographics, and more, a region is at a major disadvantage in planning for the future.  Fortunately for organizations tasked with writing a CEDS, there are a variety of trusted data sources and tools available – many of them free of charge.

The NADO Research Foundation’s Data Deep Dive webinar series features organizations and their data tools and maps that can be easily accessed to collect, interpret, and share data to better prepare your CEDS and other regional plans.  Each webinar includes a live demonstration of the tools and Q & A:

Headwaters Economics | Economic Profile System

Use the Economic Profile System (EPS) to download socioeconomic reports of communities, counties, and states, including aggregations and comparisons.  EPS uses federal data sources from the Bureaus of Economic Analysis, Census, & others.  Reports are downloadable in Excel and PDF formats and the database is updated continuously with the latest information available.


Center on Rural Innovation | Rural Opportunity Map

The Rural Opportunity Map, created by the Center on Rural Innovation, was born out of the need for a new framework to understand opportunities in small town America in the 21st century – a framework that takes into account the way industry and employment are changing and the demographic trends that have defined small towns for years. The Rural Opportunity Map has a range of uses, from allowing local leaders to identify and learn from peer communities, to surfacing emerging and established rural technology ecosystems, to providing information to Opportunity Zone investors.

Indiana Business Research Center | StatsAmerica

Since 2008, the goal of StatsAmerica has been to provide actionable data for economic developers and planners to use in site requests, developing metrics, grant writing, and strategic planning.  Data items from hundreds of data sets including dozens of federal and state sources along with some commercial or private source data are featured in a variety of tools in the form of maps, graphs, comparisons of time or geography, time series, and more.

National Association of Counties | County Explorer

The National Association of Counties (NACo) County Explorer is a one-stop-shop for data and profiles for each of the country’s 3,069 counties. This mapping tool provides easy access to the latest available data, with hundreds of indicators across categories ranging from county economies to policy issues, including transportation, finance, infrastructure, energy, health, public safety and much more.

This webinar series is presented as part of the NADO Research Foundation’s Stronger CEDS, Stronger Regions program, funded through a grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration.  Please contact Brett Schwartz at [email protected] with any questions or for more information.

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Applications cannot be saved and returned to at a later time. It is recommended you compile all of your information in advance in a word processor and cut and paste into the application below.

2023 Impact Awards

The primary applicant must be a NADO member. Project partners, both NADO and non-members, can be recognized under "Project Partners" below.

Primary Project Contact:
This person will be the designated point of contact for all future awards-related correspondence.

Organization Address

Project Location (if different from Organization Address)

Executive Director

Additional Organizational Information
Please upload your organization's logo which will be included on the winning project award certificate.

Project Information
This title will be printed on the award certificate for winning projects and in all 2022 NADO Impact Award materials and cannot be changed.

Project Summary & Questions
Please craft clear, thoughtful, and engaging responses to the following questions. Use the following sections to tell us how your project has made an impact, such as its use of creative funding mechanisms, efforts to create efficiencies or reduce costs, unique partnership models, and emphasis on building resilience and/or enhancing your region's quality of life.

For award-winning projects, the information provided below may be used verbatim to inform project descriptions that will be published in the 2023 NADO Impact Awards materials and included on the NADO website.

Please submit at least one photo showing your project in action. Please keep file size to a minimum (<2Mb) and use JPEG format. If uploading multiple files, ZIP files prior to submitting. If you have trouble uploading images they can be directly emailed to Brett Schwartz at [email protected]. Include the project title they correspond to in the subject line of your email.

Note: Submitted photos may be used in NADO Impact Awards materials and in other NADO published materials with credit to your organization. Please also consider submitting photos for NADO's 2023 Photo Contest, which will be held this summer.


CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO SUBMIT THE APPLICATION - PLEASE BE PATIENT! IF YOU DO NOT SEE A CONFIRMATION, YOUR APPLICATION WAS NOT RECEIVED.
Your application is not submitted until you are directed to a confirmation page. If you have any questions or are unsure if your application has been submitted, please contact Brett Schwartz at [email protected]

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Joe McKinney serves as Executive Director of the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO). Headquartered in Washington DC, NADO provides advocacy, education, research, and training for the nation’s 500+ regional planning and development organizations.

Joe has thirty-one years of experience having served in city, county, regional, national association, and government management since 1991. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Public Policy Analysis from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is a candidate for a master’s degree in Public Administration from UNC-Chapel Hill.

McKinney has provided congressional testimony on numerous occasions regarding the importance of regional development organizations in helping shape the nation’s economic growth. He is nationally recognized for promoting innovative solutions in areas such as planning and economic development, workforce development, transportation and transit, and aging services.

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