By EDR Group for the Appalachian Regional Commission, 2006

In 2006, the Appalachian Regional Commission identified the LEAP system as a fruitful approach for evaluating local economic performance and business attraction targeting opportunities. It arranged for state economic development agencies as well as regional economic development agencies (described as LDDs - Local Development Districts) to have subscriptions for use of the web-based EDR-LEAP system.

By 2007, fifteen regional agencies were active subscribers to EDR-LEAP. At the request of the local development agencies, Lisa Petraglia of EDR Group made a presentation on "Putting LEAP to Work" at the Annual Conference of the DDAA - Development District Association of Appalachia. Subsequently, LEAP was adopted for use in three ways: (1) for reports on comprehensive economic development strategies (CEDS), (2) for annual reports, and (3) for analysis of economic opportunities enabled by new access and infrastructure projects.