Message from Deputy Assistant Secretary
Matt Erskine

June 2013 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

In this issue of Innovate@EDA, we are pleased to be joined by the leading authority on business clusters, Dr. Michael Porter of Harvard Business School, who answers some probing questions about the vital role that clusters play in our nation’s economic life. Dr. Porter also talks about an impressive new online tool, the U.S. Cluster Mapping website, developed through a partnership between EDA and Dr. Porter’s Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness.

Regional economies have of course long been a focus of our efforts at EDA, and we highlight several of them in this issue, including the food processing and dairy cluster located in upstate New York and bioscience cluster in St. Louis anchored by BioSTL.

Early next month, we will be releasing EDA’s annual report for fiscal year 2012, which highlights the impactful work we do in communities across the country. Overall, EDA invested $297 million to support 674 economic development projects in FY 2012. This amount included approximately $194 million invested in construction projects that are expected to help create or retain approximately 40,000 jobs and generate $4.6 billion in private investment, according to grantee estimates. These are investments that are working to secure America’s economic future. Stay tuned to EDA’s website for the special online version of the annual report, which will be posted soon.

Thank you for your interest in our work at the U.S. Economic Development Administration.