Applied by regional development agencies in Alabama, Georgia and New York State

EDR-LEAP, the Local Economic Assessment Package, is being used by various regional economic development agencies as a tool for economic development assessment strategic planning and completion of their Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) Reports.

In Alabama, the Northern Alabama Council of Local Governments used LEAP to generate reports on statistical information for each of its 37 counties, including measures of economic patterns and trends related to employment, income, value added and business output, as well as measures of potential for growth of income levels and targeting new business attraction. This information was used in the region's CEDS report. Read the Northern Alabama CEDS Report and its discussion about LEAP (pdf).

In NY State, the Southern Tier East Regional Planning and Development Commission has successfully used LEAP to generate reports on shifts in business patterns, and is now applying it for their CEDS Report.

The Seneca Nation of indigenous Americans, also based in NYS, also used LEAP to assess strengths, weaknesses and target industries for its economic development strategy.

In Georgia, the Coosa Valley Regional Development Center applied LEAP to identify competitive business attraction strengths and weaknesses, and to help assess job training needs.

The Middle Georgia Development Center used LEAP to develop an economic diversification strategy plan in response to possible military base realignment. The report is available on its web site: http://mgrdc.org/jointplan/documents.html