Greater Peoria Economic Scorecard 2012 : Page 2In 2009, as the Great Recession rocked national confidence and threatened the jobs of millions of Americans, we launched the It’s Better Here campaign. The goal of the campaign was to counteract local fears and buoy the attitudes of a community that had suffered greatly in previous recessions. At the same time, the campaign created a question: How is the economy faring for our competition? As a response, The Heartland Partnership is pleased to present the inaugural Greater Peoria Economic Scorecard. The Scorecard measures economic activities for our region and compares our performance with 11 peer and aspirational cities in the Midwest. For each community, data has been collected and analyzed using federally designated Metropolitan Statistical Areas. This Scorecard reflects the performance of our entire region, and as such, it was important to collaborate with regional partners on this project. A task force comprised of CEOs, public sector leaders and professors from Bradley University provided guidance and leadership over the course of the last year to ensure this document will be a useful strategic tool for our community. The volunteer task force members played a vital role, as their guidance and leadership ensured that measurements have value to leaders throughout the region. The information contained within the Scorecard is as current as possible, and was obtained from widely used and reliable sources, which will allow us to easily update the results on a year-to-year basis. The Scorecard measures multiple indicators across five broad categories: Economic Performance, People, Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Business, and Livability . As the project evolves from year to year, we will continually evaluate the effectiveness of our indicators and consider adding new indicators as reliable data is released. For those interested, comprehensive data will be available for review, and we invite you to explore the information further. Greater Peoria is competing for jobs, resources and talented people. Without an accurate picture of our regional strengths and challenges, we cannot effectively plan for a successful future. The results of this assessment are meant to create questions and frame discussions for the business, government and economic development communities in our region. We encourage you to use this Scorecard as a tool to advance our communities and foster collaboration in Greater Peoria (See page 22 for ideas on how to get involved). Most importantly, we look forward to working with you to improve our region’s economic future. JIM McCONOUGHEY President & CEO The Heartland Partnership STARK MARSHALL WOODFORD PEORIA TAZEWELL GREATER PEORIA FIVE-COUNTY MSA 2 ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE GREATER PEORIA FIVE-COUNTY MSAJim Mcconoughey<br /> In 2009, as the Great Recession rocked national confidence and threatened the jobs of millions of Americans, we launched the It’s Better Here campaign. The goal of the campaign was to counteract local fears and buoy the attitudes of a community that had suffered greatly in previous recessions. At the same time, the campaign created a question: How is the economy faring for our competition?<br /> <br /> As a response, The Heartland Partnership is pleased to present the inaugural Greater Peoria Economic Scorecard. The Scorecard measures economic activities for our region and compares our performance with 11 peer and aspirational cities in the Midwest. For each community, data has been collected and analyzed using federally designated Metropolitan Statistical Areas.<br /> <br /> This Scorecard reflects the performance of our entire region, and as such, it was important to collaborate with regional partners on this project. A task force comprised of CEOs, public sector leaders and professors from Bradley University provided guidance and leadership over the course of the last year to ensure this document will be a useful strategic tool for our community. The volunteer task force members played a vital role, as their guidance and leadership ensured that measurements have value to leaders throughout the region.<br /> <br /> The information contained within the Scorecard is as current as possible, and was obtained from widely used and reliable sources, which will allow us to easily update the results on a year-to-year basis. The Scorecard measures multiple indicators across five broad categories: Economic Performance, People, Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Business, and Livability. As the project evolves from year to year, we will continually evaluate the effectiveness of our indicators and consider adding new indicators as reliable data is released. For those interested, comprehensive data will be available for review, and we invite you to explore the information further.<br /> <br /> Greater Peoria is competing for jobs, resources and talented people. Without an accurate picture of our regional strengths and challenges, we cannot effectively plan for a successful future. The results of this assessment are meant to create questions and frame discussions for the business, government and economic development communities in our region.<br /> <br /> We encourage you to use this Scorecard as a tool to advance our communities and foster collaboration in Greater Peoria (See page 22 for ideas on how to get involved). Most importantly, we look forward to working with you to improve our region’s economic future. Publication List |
