Benefits to Practitioners

Industry clusters help to:

Describe how industries in a region compare to each other.
Identify growth trends through regional location quotient analysis.
Reveal emerging industries in a region.
Analyze the mix of clusters in a diverse region that might include both rural and urban areas.
Rethink business expansion strategies.
Reveal groups of industries that have similar workforce needs.
Prioritize groups of firms that have growth potential.
Create regional identities and improve marketing effectiveness.

Innovation Index

The Index helps you understand your region's innovation performance and potential

Cluster Analysis

Explore 15 knowledge-based occupation clusters and 17 industry clusters to uncover regional strengths

Investment Analysis

Understand the regional development process and access tools to help guide public investment decisions

View Guidelines for Regional Investment

Why to Use the Industry Cluster Data

The industry cluster data tool helps the practitioner see networks of businesses that are creating wealth in their local or regional economy. The tool focuses on 17 clusters across the United States in order to provide a framework that is easy to understand. It also allows users to combine individual counties to define custom regions.

With data provided by the tool, users can create a matrix to show industry employment location quotients for each county in the region and for the region as a whole. This matrix enables users to see the overall competitive strengths of the region, as well as those of individual counties.

Example

The table below shows a region in Indiana with location quotients over 1.2 (A location quotient over 1.0 means that a region has a higher concentration of employment in a particular industry than the national average. Using a location quotient of 1.2 or more provides a conservative estimation for this example.)

The data show that the region is strong in advanced materials, concentrated in Owen and Lawrence counties. At the same time, Brown County has competitive strength in apparel and textiles.

Can the competitive strengths in advanced materials be connected to the businesses in apparel and textiles? Is there a future, for example, in using nano-structured coatings that provide wear-resistance and water-proofing for fabrics in apparel and textiles? Chances are, the people managing apparel and textile businesses in Brown County have no idea of what is taking place with advanced materials in Owen and Lawrence counties. By using the data provided through this tool, economic development professionals can start these conversations.

Clusters with Location Quotients = 1.2 in Counties of Indiana Economic Growth Region 8
Clusters	Monroe	Greene	Brown	Owen	Lawrence	Martin	Orange	Daviess
Advanced Materials	1.5			6.6	4.1	1.3
Agribusiness, Food Processing and Technology		1.4						6.3
Apparel and Textiles			4.1				1.4	1.6
Arts, Entertainment, Recreation and Visitor Industries			4.5				1.8
Biomedical/Biotechnical (Life Sciences)	1.3			2.7				1.2
Business and Financial Services
Chemicals and Chemical-Based Products	1.7				3.8	2.6
Defense and Security						10.8
Education and Knowledge Creation	5.6
Energy (Fossil and Renewable)		3.5				1.5	2.7	1.3
Forest and Wood Products				2.3			11.4	2.2
Glass and Ceramics			1.9		4.7
Information Technology and Telecommunications
Manufacturing Supercluster					3.6
Computer and Electronic Product Mfg
Electrical Equip, Appliance and Component Mfg	7.1					5.4
Fabricated Metal Product Mfg					2.6
Machinery Mfg					2.4
Primary Metal Mfg					18.1		3.3
Transportation Equipment Mfg					4.9
Mining	1.6			3.0	9.8	2.7	7.6
Printing and Publishing	1.2			1.4
Transportation and Logistics								1.5