In this webinar, CERP candidate Paul Liu will present on the findings and process behind Missouri’s 2025 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS), a five-year, statewide economic development plan developed by the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness (CREC) in partnership with the Missouri Department of Economic Development (DED) with support from the U.S. Economic Development Administration.
Liu will walk through the data-driven methodology used to assess Missouri’s economic landscape, including an industry cluster analysis identifying five strategic clusters, a statewide skills gap assessment developed in collaboration with Lightcast, and a synthesis of existing regional plans. He will also examine the stakeholder engagement strategy that underpinned the process, including the design and facilitation of four CEDS working teams, the use of structured breakout formats to generate actionable feedback, and how input from roughly 50 stakeholders was synthesized into the final action plan. Key findings will be highlighted alongside lessons learned for practitioners working on similar statewide planning efforts.
Missouri CEDS plan and related research products can be found here.
This webinar is presented as part of C2ER’s professional certification, the Certified Economic Research Professional (CERP). CERP is the industry standard for recognizing excellence in economic research and embodies the applied skills of economic, demographic, industry, and workforce analysis. CERPs undertake rigorous evaluation of their research experience and leadership to earn this designation. Find out more about the CERP program here and see how many points you may have already towards certification.