EDA University Center for Economic Development
The Research Group houses a federally funded university center by the Economic Development Administration (EDA), a branch of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The EDA university center program is a unique partnership that makes resources, expertise, and technologies at institutions of higher education available to stimulate industrial, technological, and commercial growth in economically distressed areas.
The mission of the university center at IEA/UALR combines the basic categories of applied research and
technical assistance with an emphasis on technological adaptation of economic development information and research studies to the Internet. In addition, the university center funds are targeted toward spawning new collaborations in economic development and leveraged underwriting of new approaches to development and planning in the state. A heavy emphasis of the university center at UALR is on the use of internet technology to leverage more information resources and collaboration among state and local development groups for use in the economic development and planning processes.
Examples of collaborative research and assistance in Arkansas include economic impact analysis of natural disasters and sudden and severe dislocations in communities, market assessment studies of new ventures, and state planning assistance. The university center at the Institute works closely with other EDA affiliates in the state and the region on planning, collaborative grants, and sharing of expertise.
