Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service

Community Economic Analysis



· Department of Agricultural Economics
· Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service
· College of Agriculture
· University of Kentucky
· Kentucky State University

For additional information about this project, please contact Eric Scorsone at escorson@uky.edu.

University of Kentucky
Department of Agricultural Economics
400 Charles E. Barnhart Bldg.
Lexington, KY 40546-0276

Phone: 859-257-5762
Fax: 859-323-1913

Images from Georgetown-Scott County Planning Commission and the USDA On-Line Photography Center.

Site Design: Karen Pulliam
Last Update: January 21, 2003

Community economic analysis is a set of tools and data that allow you to understand strengths, weaknesses and trends in your local economy. This information can be used to decide which community economic development strategies are the best fit for your community.

The basic community economic development strategies are: 1) business recruitment, 2) small business development and entrepreneurship and 3) business retention and expansion.

CEA provides information, using economic and social data, to decide which of these strategies would be the best fit for a community and how best to implement each strategy. It can help provide answers to questions such as, "what makes our local economy tick?, what do we import and export?, what are the regions strongest and weakest industries?, and how would changes in the national or state economy affect our local economy?" It can be used in strategic planning, community needs assessment, asset-based development and other strategies.

Various pictures representing different parts of community economics and rural development, especially as might be seen in small, rural communities.

Educational programs of the Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service serve all people
regardless of race, color, age, sex, religion, disability, or national origin.

Questions about the website: aecwww@lsv.uky.edu.