EDC Assesses Regional Competitiveness
The EDC commissioned CWS Consulting Group to assess ten regional industry sectors for growth and investment potential. CWS used the western Mass section of a 2008 statewide study by Moran Stahl & Boyer commissioned by the Massachusetts Alliance for Economic Development (“MassEcon”) as its starting point and assessed changes and opportunities that have arisen since then. This study achieved two objectives for us. It addressed our competitiveness against a regional peer group and it helped us improve our understanding of the internal workings of the sectors as part of our Homefield Advantage program. The study identified regional competitive advantages in the medical device, photonics, plastics, specialized manufacturing and logistics industries and recommended these as our top priorities. It also identified strengths in the aerospace/defense and financial service industries, but assigned them a lower priority given the current turmoil in them. And it recommended an opportunistic approach to the life science industry given our proximity to the Boston/Cambridge “Super Cluster”. The complete study can be downloaded here – http://www.westernmassedc.com/cwsreport/
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