Helping Communities Shine

Whether researching and implementing ways to shape a community's economic development plan or partnering to create ways to put people to work, CREC connects researchers and policymakers with:

• Data training
• Custom portfolios that aid regional competitiveness

Project Profile

Lancaster County-Wide Economic Development Strategy

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Start Date: Jan 2003 — End Date: Oct 2004

The Council for Community & Economic Research (C2ER) and the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness (CREC) helped county leaders in Lancaster to identify several strategic priorities for action. The historically manufacturing-dominated region of 450,000 people is undergoing economic transformation and its leaders wanted to develop a cohesive vision and action plan for more than 60 municipalities and 45 economic development entities. “Lancaster Prospers” – the name given to the project – is being managed through a 36-member planning group representing stakeholders from across the county including government, business, and academia.

About the Client

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Statistically, nearly 18% of Lancaster County, Pa.’s workforce is employed through manufacturing. Nearly 11,000 companies operate in the county. Top-notch health care, thriving universities and a dynamic business environment support the area’s economy.