Recommended Readings

Bruce Katz and Jeremy Nowak, “The Investment Prospectus Approach” (Accelerator for America)

Bruce Katz and Evan Weiss, “From Transactions to Transformation: How Cities Can Maximize Opportunity Zones,” (Accelerator for America and Nowak Metro Finance Lab)

Bruce Katz, “Rethinking Capital and Geography,” (New Localism Advisors)

Investment Prospectus Examples

Erie, Pennsylvania [External Site]

Louisville, Kentucky [PDF]

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma [PDF] 

Data and Tools

US Census Bureau’s American FactFinder

American FactFinder provides access to data about the United States, Puerto Rico and the Island Areas. The data in American FactFinder come from several censuses and surveys, including the American Community Survey, the American Housing Survey, Annual Economic Surveys, and the Decennial Census. American FactFinder’s online application and data catalog are free to use.

Access the Application & Data Here

PolicyMap

PolicyMap offers easy-to-use online mapping with data on demographics, real estate, health, jobs and more in communities across the US. From the classroom to the boardroom, thousands of organizations trust PolicyMap to find the right data for their research, market studies, business planning, site selection, grant applications and impact analysis.

Read more about PolicyMap here

US Census TIGER Products

TIGER (Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing) products are spatial extracts from the Census Bureau's MAF/TIGER database, containing features such as roads, railroads, rivers, as well as legal and statistical geographic areas. The Census Bureau offers several file types and an online mapping application. TIGER data provides the governmental standardized statistical geographic areas that many of the data sets referenced in this guide can be geospatially joined to. TIGER products are free to use.

Access the Data Here

US Census Bureau’s Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics

The Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) program is part of the Center for Economic Studies at the U.S. Census Bureau. The LEHD program produces new, cost effective, public-use information combining federal, state and Census Bureau data on employers and employees under the Local Employment Dynamics (LED) Partnership. State and local authorities increasingly need detailed local information about their economies to make informed decisions. The LED Partnership works to fill critical data gaps and provide indicators needed by state and local authorities. LEHD data is effective at discerning employment trends and commuting patterns, particularly through their free to use QWI Explorer and On the Map applications.

Access the Data Here

Quarterly Workforce Indicators (QWI) Explorer

The Quarterly Workforce Indicators (QWI) are a set of economic indicators including employment, job creation, earnings, and other measures of employment flows. The QWI are reported based on detailed firm characteristics (geography, industry, age, size) and worker demographics information (sex, age, education, race, ethnicity) and are available tabulated to national, state, metropolitan/micropolitan areas, county, and Workforce Investment Board (WIB) areas.

Access the Application Here

On the Map

OnTheMap is a web-based mapping and reporting application that shows where workers are employed and where they live. It also provides companion reports on age, earnings, industry distributions, race, ethnicity, educational attainment, and sex.

Access the Application Here

Bureau of Labor Statistics

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the U.S. Department of Labor is the principal federal agency responsible for measuring labor market activity, working conditions, and price changes in the economy. Its mission is to collect, analyze, and disseminate essential economic information to support public and private decision making. As an independent statistical agency, BLS serves its diverse user communities by providing products and services that are accurate, objective, relevant, timely, and accessible.

Access the Data Here

PitchBook

PitchBook is a financial data and software company who offer a subscription-based suite of proprietary data and products. PitchBook’s data include information about Startup Companies, Venture Capital Investment Activity, Real Estate Funds, and numerous other research conducted by the PitchBook’s team, and their analysis tools allow users to perform targeted searches of their data, build financial models, and construct customized visualizations, among other useful tasks for city managers and investors alike.

Read more about PitchBook here