Databases Updated

Employment by County, Historical Unemployment Rates, and Initial Unemployment Claims databases updated (posted 09/26/08 at http://www.mtsu.edu/~berc/database.html)

MTSU Economic Outlook Conference 2008 Presentations

David Penn's Presentation from MTSU Economic Outlook Conference (pdf, posted 09/28/08): audio clips of presentation by Dr. James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; newspaper coverage. (http://www.mtsu.edu/~berc)

Increasing Competitiveness through Strengthening Regional Industrial Clusters: Middle Tennessee Marketing Region

A study by MTSU's Business and Economic Research Center for the Middle Tennessee Industrial Development Association (posted 09/25/08).

From the executive summary:

"Strategically located between Nashville (MSA), TN, and Huntsville (MSA), AL, the Middle Tennessee Marketing Region (MTM), which consists of 14 counties (Bedford, Coffee, Franklin, Giles, Hickman, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Marshall, Maury, Moore, Perry, Warren, and Wayne), presents tremendous business opportunities with its diverse economic structure and strong industrial base, according to a study conducted by the Business and Economic Research Center (BERC) at the Jennings A. Jones College of Business at Middle Tennessee State University. The study’s findings highlight the necessity of regional level leadership in leveraging existing regional assets to create a cluster-based competitive regional economy through regional-level marketing, increasing synergies between industries in target clusters and their suppliers and customers, strengthening the cluster supply-chain by diversifying target clusters, and investing in human resources.

"The BERC study was commissioned by Middle Tennessee Industrial Development Association in Nashville. After reviewing the broader socioeconomic dynamics and workforce issues in the MTM region, this study identifies regional industrial clusters and provides a detailed assessment of target industry clusters to present a detailed roadmap for the competitive regional economic development initiatives."

Reports from Grameen

An ongoing series of reports from MTSU student Steven Sibley, winner of the first Kawahito World Poverty Studies Scolarship to work at Grameen Bank, founded by 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, who started microlending in Bangladesh (http://frank.mtsu.edu/~berc/grameen.html). Future installments will be added to this page.

Unemployment Rate Leaps to 6.1%

From the Tennessean Sept. 6, 2008 (complete article): "David Penn, an economist with Middle Tennessee State University, said the local economic outlook depends on what happens with the real estate and auto sectors. 'If we can get those sectors moving again, we'll be doing a lot better than the nation. . . . We have a diversified economy — still, when the auto sector gets hit as hard as it's been, we're bound to get more of a negative impact than other parts of the country.'" 

Tennessee Building Permits

The Tennessee Building Permits database has been updated (Sept. 3, 2008). If the link is slow to load, please go to http://www.mtsu.edu/~berc . New additions are at the top of the BERC home page.

Nashville and Tennessee Nonfarm Employment Updates

Nashville MSA Nonfarm Employment and Tennessee Nonfarm Employment are updated (Sept. 2, 2008). If link is slow to load, go to http://www.mtsu.edu/~berc. New additions are at the top of the BERC home page.

MTSU Economic Outlook Conference

From the Daily News Journal (August 27, 2008): Dr. James Bullard, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, will serve as keynote speaker at Middle Tennessee State University’s 16th annual Economic Outlook Conference, Friday, Sept. 26, with registration beginning at 8:15 a.m. This year the event, which is free of charge, will be held at the new Embassy Suites Hotel and Conference Center, 1200 Conference Center Boulevard, in Murfreesboro.... Dr. David Penn, director of MTSU’s Business and Economic Research Center . . . will, at 10:30 a.m., provide a mid-state/regional economic update. The BERC maintains significant databases of regional, national and international information and provides research resources and databases for the MTSU community. . . . For more information, call 615-898-2764. Visit the Jones College of Business Web site. (more)