Monday, September 29, 2008

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."