LEAP (Local Economic Assessment Package) is the only product of its kind: a tool for economic developers to assess the performance of their area economy, diagnose local factors affecting its economic development, and define achievable targets for future economic growth. An added feature is policy analysis -- the ability to assess how future changes in local facilities, services or policies can change those opportunities for future business growth. LEAP goes well beyond traditional economic analysis, to examine how the availability, quality and accessibility of local business facilities, supporting infrastructure and workforce training act to affect local economic development. The system works for any county or multi-county region in the US, and can also be customized for sub-county areas.

You need LEAP...

(1) If you are a state planner who needs to assess the performance and potential of different regions in your state, or local/regional planner who needs to assess the relative performance of your area economy, and succinctly communicate it to others.

(2) If you are an economic developer who needs to: (a) define target industries for business attraction and promotion efforts, or (b) diagnose current barriers holding back your area's economic development opportunities, define priorities and design a strategy for business growth and attraction.

(3) If you are a decision-maker who needs to make decisions about funding and implementing infrastructure investment or policy, and needs to understand the magnitude of its likely economic development benefit.

(4) If you are a policy analyst or researcher who wishes to examine the economic development consequences of alternative scenarios affecting the quality and availability of infrastructure and/or programs supporting economic development.

Whereas traditional economic analysis perspectives tend to focus on dollar flows and dollar measures of cost competitiveness, LEAP also examines how access and quality factors (such as industrial park amenities, workforce skills, broadband telecom, local highway and airport access, and intermodal rail access), as well as tax and cost factors, can all drive local or regional economic growth and development.

LEAP was built by economic developers who are experienced in performance measurement and economic development strategies. They initially developed LEAP based on "business requirements" - the factors that businesses look for when deciding where to locate and expand, and their relative availability, quality and accessibility. New features focus on discerning other aspects of local advantage and disadvantage in attracting and growing target industries, and developing complementary business clusters.

LEAP was developed with a core belief in "the right tool for the job." LEAP is designed as the best available tool for identifying local economic development needs, setting priorities and evaluating how alternative actions can change business attraction opportunities. But it does not pretend to replace economic input-output models, tax models or growth planning models. Rather, we have designed LEAP as a flexible and modular system that can be used by itself or together with other specialized tools when warranted.

The LEAP system design allows it to be used together with other tools including:

• "input-output models" for further analysis of the downstream economic implications of business attraction opportunities identified by LEAP,
• "economic forecasting models" to estimate economic adjustments over time in prices, costs and business migration resulting from new growth identified by LEAP,
• "fiscal impact models" of the tax implications of new economic growth opportunities identified by LEAP,
• "urban land development/growth planning models" that forecast future changes in land use patterns resulting from additional economic growth identified by LEAP, and
• "transportation benefit/cost evaluation systems" that utilize LEAP information on the economic development consequences of transportation improvements.

LEAP is a radical departure from any existing economic analysis tool or model in three ways.

LEAP focuses on identifying local shortcomings and opportunities for improvement. It not only provides a report card on your area's economic performance, but lets you compare your area to comparable urban or rural regions elsewhere (rather than state averages or national norms). It then analyzes area economic performance to identify the specific local factors that are holding it back, and the magnitude of those effects.

LEAP is an economic developer's tool. It considers how economic growth is affected not only by dollar flows and prices, but also by factors that local planners and economic developers can affect -- the availability and adequacy of local education, workforce skills, infrastructure, business sites and facilities, support services and accessibility.

LEAP provides direction for targeted actions. It identifies potential opportunities for targeted business attraction, and estimates the likely range of impact from actions meant to enhance local economic development. It does not naively portray the future through automatic forecasts of economic change, but rather in terms of opportunities, risks and factors that can affect them.

E. User Worksheets.

LEAP User Worksheets allow the economic developer to apply knowledge of local conditions. The required information on is the type that can't be bought "off the shelf," but is common knowledge among local and state practitioners: the adequacy of local industrial parks and office buildings, sewer and water services, workforce training and business support programs.

The design of a traditional economic impact model or regional economic base study avoids reliance on local factors by simply ignoring those factors. The developers of LEAP take a different view - that it is better to do rely on the knowledge of local experts and develop ratings based on some consistent criteria than to just ignore these important factors. Thus, the LEAP system includes a series of four optional worksheets that you can use to assemble information on features of: (1) industrial parks, (2) office buildings, (3) workforce training and (4) business support programs.

LEAP also gives its users a better understanding of economic development targeting and strategy development, which we provide in the form of an accompanying handbook for economic development. We provide this handbook because we want to ensure that neither we nor our users are unfairly criticized because someone misinterpreted LEAP results. For instance, in today's world of outsourcing and automation, some communities and regions are experiencing the situation where a major local industry is growing in terms of dollar output but shrinking in terms of local jobs and payroll. In such cases, you can characterize the situation as either one of a growing industry or a shrinking industry, depending on whether you are measuring business revenue or jobs.

LEAP assumes that most economic developers are concerned most about creating and retaining jobs for local residents, and thus the system defaults to using a job-based measure of economic growth/decline (though other options are available). However, the user must be aware of these types of issues because they can have important implications for how you define your economic development targets and strategies.

LEAP also gives its users a better understanding of economic development targeting and strategy development, which we provide in the form of an accompanying handbook for economic development. We provide this handbook because we want to ensure that neither we nor our users are unfairly criticized because someone misinterpreted LEAP results. For instance, in today's world of outsourcing and automation, some communities and regions are experiencing the situation where a major local industry is growing in terms of dollar output but shrinking in terms of local jobs and payroll. In such cases, you can characterize the situation as either one of a growing industry or a shrinking industry, depending on whether you are measuring business revenue or jobs.

LEAP assumes that most economic developers are concerned most about creating and retaining jobs for local residents, and thus the system defaults to using a job-based measure of economic growth/decline (though other options are available). However, the user must be aware of these types of issues because they can have important implications for how you define your economic development targets and strategies.