What is economic impact analysis?
An economic impact analysis (EIA) helps communities understand how local economies work. An EIA will help you and your community understand questions like:
- How important is a business or industry to your local economy?
- What kind of investment should you make in your local economy?
- How many jobs will be affected by a change in the economy?
- How will a change affect the amount of money that comes to your economy?
To get started, call us to have a conversation about your community or industry. Contact a community economics educator in your area or Brigid Tuck, Extension economic impact analyst.
Our research process
Economies are complicated, but an economic impact analysis helps cut through the maze. To find answers, we use a tool called Implan™. It calculates how business inputs and outputs make ripples throughout a local economy. The model helps us understand how jobs in one business affect other businesses. We can sort data into three types of impacts:
- Direct impacts from an economic event or asset
- Indirect impacts that result from business-to-business transactions
- Induced impacts that result from consumer-to-business transactions
Ways to use our research
There are three ways to use economic impact analysis in your community or industry:
Help your community understand how an unfortunate economic event — job loss, business closure, or a natural disaster — might affect the local economy. Our quick analysis can inform your local response. An emergency EIA includes:
- A profile of your local economy
- A short summary of how the event will affect all community businesses
- An exploration of how the event is likely to affect the local economy
How we work with your community
Our goal is to help you act quickly, and we work with you to establish a short timeline that meets the needs of decision makers. This quick turnaround may result in answers that are not as thorough as other studies, but community leaders use this information to get their town on the road to recovery.
Local emergency reports
- Poultry and Egg Production Losses and Poultry Processing Losses Due to the Avian Influenza
- St. Cloud Printing Plant Closure
Visit our reports page to read more reports.
We conduct customized studies that answer critical community questions. We survey, gather data and interview key players to ensure our reports consider the best local knowledge. We call this process "ground truthing." It ensures our work considers what is happening in a community.
How we work with your community
Our first meetings with your group are critical to our customized research. We need to be sure the tools we have available can actually answer the questions you are asking. If the match isn't right, we refer you to other sources or reshape the question so that it can be answered.
Because we provide in-depth answers to economic impact questions, our work can take anywhere from three to nine months to complete. As a general rule, when more local "ground truthing" is required, research takes longer.
Custom research reports
- Considerations for a County Fair Profile
- The Economic Contribution of Vineyards and Wineries of the North
- The Economic Contribution of the Agbioscience Industry in Greater Minnesota
Visit our reports page to read more reports.
How would growing or shrinking one business in each industry affect jobs and revenue in other businesses? Hold a Futures Workshop to help your community understand the economic impact of five to eight different industries on local economies.
Consult with us
Community economics • Leadership and civic engagement • Tourism
Extension educators work in communities with partners throughout Minnesota. Contact us for consultation, guidance and conversation about your community.