Geographic Information System (GIS) Applications
In Economic Development

EDO's are making increased use of GIS technology as both a planning/analysis and communication tool. We did a little looking around to see who is doing what.

Here are some user websites you might want to look at:

Virginia ED Partnership
City/County of Honolulu
City of Tucson
Manatee County, Florida
City of San Francisco
Boise, Idaho
Greater OK City ED Information System
Missouri Economic Research and Information Center

Most of the above user organizations are employing GIS for real estate and site information and planning, but many also provide applications like retail market area analysis and business cluster mapping services.

A visit to these sites should serve to: 1) give you some starting ideas on what is possible using GIS; or 2) provide some comparisons for your existing GIS program and ways to advance it.

I suggest a stop at some of the university department's teaching GIS. You might start with the University of Toledo's GIS Center, run by Dr. Chris Shove, who has a strong background in both economic development and GIS. Go here.

Another useful stop would be the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association. Go here. Lots of useful information on the site, plus many informative links to other organizations using and developing GIS applications.

If an economic development GIS users group does not exist in your state, you may want to consider forming one. These groups allow users to share information and ideas about what works and what doesn't.