The Great Lakes Regional Training Institute is a collaboration spearheaded by the University Centers in the six-state area of the Chicago

Economic Development Administration region.  

 

 

The EDA University Centers (UCs) make the universities' vast resources available to the economic development community.  This collaborative effort is designed to meet the unique needs of the communities across the Great Lakes region by making available valuable research, resources and training programs.

 

  

 

Link to each of the states' sites for a quick overview of the University Centers to find helpful tools and programs that will support your work.  Please visit the website to learn more about this important initiative.

  

September, 2014 - Learn about the Universities and their Upcoming events

 

Welcome

 

Welcome to the first edition of the Great Lakes Regional Training Institute newsletter. We hope that through this communication you will become more familiar with the EDA University Center efforts in your own state and learn about other Centers in the Great Lakes region that may be helpful as well.

 

Let us know what you think, or share ideas you would like to see featured.  Your feedback will help shape future editions.  

 

 'Bo' Beaulieu

Director, Purdue Center for Regional Development 

 

(Purdue University proudly acts as Coordinator for this multi-university initiative.)

Introducing the Great Lakes EDA University Centers
Upcoming Events:

 

 

Illinois: 

View our Calendar of Events! 

 

 


Indiana:

Strategic Doing Certification Training

October 13-15, 2014

Contact us to learn more.

 



Minnesota:

Ohio:


 


ILLINOIS
East Central Illinois:
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign/Parkland College

  

The East Central Illinois University Center is a partnership between the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Parkland College, and other regional economic development stakeholders to promote and foster entrepreneurship in east central Illinois. The program's mission is to support new business development within the region through entrepreneur education, startup assistance, incubation and growth support, and investment. The University Center provides tech business consulting, SBIR grant technical assistance, mobile application programming training for workforce development, and operates the Rantoul Business Incubator. In addition to these direct efforts, the Center recently completed a study of the incubators across the state of Illinois to show best practices, target audiences, and differences in missions across rural, university, and urban environments.

      
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INDIANA
Purdue Center for Regional Development
The Purdue Center for Regional Development (PCRD) seeks to pioneer new ideas and strategies that contribute to regional collaboration, innovation and prosperity.  The Center partners with public, private, nonprofit and philanthropic organizations to identify and enhance the key drivers of innovation in regions across Indiana, the U.S. and internationally as well. We have developed Signature Programs in the following areas:
Collaborative Leadership,
Strategy and Planning,
Economic Development, and
Data for Decision Makers.
  
Our EDA University Center has led 'Transforming your Local and Regional Economy' workshops throughout Indiana that focus on economic growth through leveraging assets, identifying and maximizing the impact of clusters and a systematic way to foster entrepreneurship. 

Learn more about our Signature Programs on our new website - click here!

MICHIGAN
Michigan State University's Center for Regional Economic Innovation
The Michigan State University's EDA University Center for Regional Economic Innovation (REI) at the MSU Center for Community and Economic Development is building a new economic development ecosystem, leveraging higher education assets to support the co-creation, co-application, and dissemination of innovative economic development strategies that promise to yield high-growth entrepreneurship, job creation and economic innovation throughout the state of Michigan!
 

Our 2014 Innovate Michigan! Summit was held September 4th and was a great success! Thanks to everyone who attended - we look forward to seeing you next year!

 
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Take a look at our site!
 
MINNESOTA
The EDA Center at the University of Minnesota, Crookston
Our mission is to engage university faculty, staff and students with local, county and regional economic development agencies in support of our rural economy. Our focus is to utilize the capacity of the University of Minnesota Crookston in partnership with economic development agencies to support job creation, capital investment, business recruitment and job retention.
  
OHIO
Center for Regional Development:
Bowling Green State University
The Center's mission is to design and implement innovative and pragmatic solutions to a wide variety of regional challenges. Community and regional development may be defined as a process whereby the economic, social, cultural, and environmental resources of a region are harnessed for the betterment of the people in that region.We are working with other research centers in our region and around the globe to explore and share development and research opportunities. With research partners around the world, the CRD is working hard to provide world-class ideas and move them from our campus to your community.
Center for Economic Development:
Cleveland State University
  
The Center for Economic Devleopment provides applied research and technical assistance to local, regional, and state governments, nonprofits, philanthropic organizations and businesses.  It is the economic development research arm of the  Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urgan Affairs at Cleveland State University.
  
The Center works with organizations at the national, state, regional, and local levels across a diverse array of projects.  We apply strict academic rigor to all aspects of our work and have earned a strong reputation for conducting research that is of high quality, unbiased, and insightful.

The Center's areas of expertise include: Industry Analysis, Entrepreneurship, Economic Clusters, Economic Analysis of Regions and Cities, Evaluation of Economic Development Initiatives, Economic Development Strategies, Workforce Development, Ecology of Innovation and Economic Impact.  Learn more at our website.

Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs:
Ohio University
   
The ongoing support received through the EDA assists the Voinovich School in providing direct business assistance services, applied research initiatives and an annual State of the Region Conference.  The overall result is the positioning of the region for economic growth.
  
Voinovich School has fostered an environment of collaboration between regional economic development centers and agencies.  These collaborations aid the provision of direct business assistance services to businesses and entrepreneurs. 
Regional capacity building and working on emerging industry initiatives for Energy and Manufacturing have been key components of our work. 
  
In May of 2014, the third annual  State of the Region conference addressed the region's current status and opportunities in the manufacturing sector by bringing together national leaders and industry experts to discuss recent trends and developments. View our website to see highlights and presentations of the presenters.
WISCONSIN
Wisconsin Center for Commercialization Resources

  

Five universities form the the Wisconsin Center for Commercialization Resources (WCCR).  The Center's focus is to facilitate the entire commercialization process, by providing resources and services for moving a project through various stages, from idea to proof of concept to launch. In addition the statewide University Center will stimulate commercialization and startups, and support entrepreneurs with a clearinghouse of resources that aid economic growth.  

Visit Us to learn more! 


Our goal is to identify the training needs of our communities and offer solutions. If there are any comments or suggestions please let us know.

(The Purdue Center for Regional Development acts as the coordinator for this multi-university EDA initiative.)