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The Economic Development Administration and Western Carolina University have teamed to produce a useful web site: Know Your Region.

There are a range of helpful materials on the site. Here's an example: a short presentation on defining a region.

Western Carolina has also developed a curriculum on regionalism. I'm currently reviewing it to see how we can integrate the material into our WIRED initiatives.

One interesting insight: The EDA project began with a needs assessment involving 942 economic development and workforce development practitioners. The largest segment of the sample represented professionals working in chambers of commerce and economic development corporations. About 7% represented workforce development professionals. 

Now here is what was interesting. According to the assessment: 

Workforce Development Agencies tend to partner with more organizations to accomplish their development goals than do economic development organizations.

Source: Regionalism and Clusters for Local Development Needs Assessment Results, page 14 available from this page.