March 11 Webinar Will Demonstrate Web-Based Tool on Economic Diversity in Appalachia March 2014

Authors of a new ARC-funded research study on economic diversity in Appalachia will hold a one-hour webinar on Tuesday, March 11, 2014, to demonstrate use of a companion Web-based tool that provides quantitative information on Appalachian communities' economic diversity. The tool is designed to support local economic development planning by helping practitioners and policy makers explore key concepts related to economic diversity. Through tables, charts, graphics, and maps generated by the tool, users can analyze their community's economic health, diversity, opportunities, and risks, and its comparative economic diversity status.

The tool and a companion practitioners' guide were developed in conjunction with the research report Economic Diversity in Appalachia, a quantitative analysis of economic diversity in the Region prepared for ARC by the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness (CREC) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Regional Economics Applications Laboratory. The study also includes a description of the economic diversification experiences of ten Appalachian counties.

The webinar will be held from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. EDT. Presenters will include Mark C. White, vice president of research at the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness, and Troy D. Mix, regional planning Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Registration for the webinar is open to all and is required for participation.

A recording of the webinar will be available on the CREC Web site. The research report and the Web tool are available through ARC's Web site.