Benchmarking Economic Development: Regional Strategy in Silicon Valley, Austin, Seattle, Oregon and Cleveland

This paper explores "best-practice" regional economic development strategies in cities and regions throughout the United States. Benchmarking case studies were performed on Silicon Valley, Austin, Seattle, Oregon, and Cleveland consisting of field research, site visits and extensive personal interviews. While some of these regional efforts are quite new, and have not advanced beyond the formative stage, together they provide a good example of the cutting-edge approaches to regional economic development.