Three research pillars
What the Institute will study
The name carries the Institute’s focus. Each research product will be filed under one or more of three pillars.
Development
Regional economic development and the infrastructure that supports it: transportation, energy, water and the places they connect.
Markets
The markets that shape regional prosperity: labor and workforce, industry and supply chains, freight, and real estate.
Policy
Public programs, regulation and fiscal policy, evaluated for what they cost, what they deliver and who benefits.
Approach
Evidence first, with methods in plain view
The Institute will report what the evidence shows, including its uncertainty, regardless of any funder’s preferred outcome. Each publication will state its data sources, models and study-area logic, and will disclose its funding.
Study areas will follow economic logic, such as labor sheds, supply chains, freight corridors and waterway systems, rather than political boundaries alone.
Founder
Dean M. Prestegaard
Economist with more than 30 years of experience in regional economics, infrastructure and economic development.
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