CREA at SSU - North Bay Forensic Economics and Economic Impact Analysis

The Center of Regional Economic Analysis (CREA) at SSU provides first-rate research, data, and analysis for local industry and governments. Our mission is to produce and disseminate new information in the general area of economic research, and in the specific areas of business economics, economic development, regional economics, and fiscal policy. The CREA serves the business community, federal, state and local governments, individuals and SSU. A special emphasis is placed on businesses in technological and agricultural fields as well as governments in the SSU service area. In addition, the CREA staff does contract research on business and economic problems for governmental organizations and private industry.

Approach and Goals:

Our approach to all projects, whether small or large, is as a team of professionals working together to solve problems and deliver high quality information in a timely manner. The CREA offers technical assistance to governmental agencies, profit and nonprofit organizations, and individuals. The CREA also conducts applied research involving the design and testing of innovative economic development strategies, feasibility studies, design and administration of surveys, economic modeling, and social and economic measurements.

For the CREA to be successful and viable in this respect, it must achieve three basic goals:

* Provide information not available from other sources and at a relatively lower user cost than other, private sources.
* Produce community reports at a low cost per governmental or non-profit requests.
* Initiate and maintain research and analysis that benefits certain regional industries and the business community over the short and long term.

The new CREA looks to expand and maintain these efforts at a high level through three main media:

* A website as the gateway to the CREA, information on the local economy and beyond.
* Local news sources using creative methods of enticing businesses to use the CREA for answers to questions about the local economy and analysis, including research output, daily updates, etc.
* Chambers of Commerce and other local organizations that network the CREA for maximum exposure in the business community to CREA products.

Evaluation services:	Research services:
Econometric forecasting	Product and services market research
Statistical data analysis	Demographic analysis
Demographic analysis	Commercial and industrial market studies
Land use studies	Financial feasibility studies
Socioeconomic/labor studies	Sales forecasting
Fiscal impact analysis	Economic impact analysis
Relocation studies	Regional impact studies
Sales forecasting	Qualitative issue development
Tourism modeling and forecasts	Questionnaire design
Site location analysis	Sample frame identification
Environmental economic impact	Extensive literature reviews
Commercial and industrial market studies	Focus group organization and surveys
Transportation systems analysis	Mail, telephone, fax, and customer intercept surveys
	Bilingual surveys and interviews

Last revised on August 21, 2007.
Copyright & copy; 2001 CREA, all rights reserved.
Links to web pages outside SSU should not be interpreted as CREA endorsements of the information, opinions, goods, or services presented therein.
Comments and feedback about the CREA website should be sent to crea@sonoma.edu