IMPLAN Blog

As more and more people recognize the importance of protecting our planet, renewable energies like solar energy are taking center stage, transforming our environment as well as our economies.

An enormous variety of factors are at play in any given economy, and there are countless measuring tools and data sets that can help us better understand what is happening in our economic environment. In times of great change, like we’re experiencing now in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, it can be helpful to take a step back and look at the big picture. IMPLAN data sets provide very granular geographic and industrial levels of detail, with consistent data estimates spanning from 2001 to the most recent IMPLAN data year. These micro data can be used in concert with macro data from other sources to gain a rich understanding of local and regional economies, as well as the national economy. In today’s blog, we’re looking at some measurements that can be used alongside IMPLAN data to gain a better sense of the big picture.

The news is out! By now, you’ve probably heard that IMPLAN has retired Pro. 

IMPLAN’s academic roots created a continuing commitment to enhancing and promoting economic research. That’s why IMPLAN’s Data Library is available in a convenient package for anyone interested in rapidly making comparisons or examining historical trends by region and industry, tax collections by specific taxing authority, inter-county trade of goods and services, and more for all states and counties in the United States. 

2020 was an unusual year for sure — the pandemic, the great resignation, working remote, and more. IMPLAN's 2020 data holds a tremendous amount of valuable economic intelligence. 

It’s that time of year again. Here at IMPLAN, we mark the holiday season with our annual data release. That means 2020 data has arrived in the IMPLAN application!

The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the only federal agency focused exclusively on facilitating job growth and building resilient regional economies across the United States. The EDA offers a variety of funding opportunities for economic development projects. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the EDA was allocated $3 billion in supplemental funding under the American Rescue Plan, allowing them to offer even larger and more transformational investments across the country.

In early August 2021, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed in the Senate. By the end of the month, the House of Representatives agreed on a September 27 deadline for voting on the bill, and given its bipartisan support, it is expected to pass there as well. This new bill focuses on investments in roads, railways, bridges, and broadband internet. It proposes $550 billion in new spending from 2022 to 2027, with the aim to improve sustainable transportation options, expand access to high-speed internet and clean drinking water, and upgrade our power infrastructure to facilitate the expansion of renewable energy.

These are exciting goals, backed by a lot of money. But what exactly will the economic impact of these investments look like? The ripple effect of this large amount of government spending can be expected to make a difference across the country, not just in the industries where it is initially spent, but also far beyond. We can get a clearer picture of the infrastructure bill’s impact on the economy through Input-Output Analysis performed by economists at IMPLAN Group, LLC, the leading provider of economic impact data and technology.

The world economy experienced drastic changes in 2020 as a direct result of the coronavirus pandemic. In order to address these drastic economic changes in our data, IMPLAN has released its second ever quarterly data set. The Evolving Economy - COVID Q3-2020 data captures the initial stages of the economic recovery in 2020. This data set, which is equipped to perform all forms of impact analysis modeling, is available now in the IMPLAN application.

Our webinar, The Economic Impact of a New Business Location, walked through the process for modeling the economic impact of a new business location. In the presentation, considerations for the construction and operations impacts were covered and examined in the context of the Lowe’s Design Center Tower project. If you missed the live presentation, you can watch the recording here. The discussion generated a number of questions highlighting important points about running these analyses. Check out what our economists had to say below: