Press Release

UA and ASU launch free economic data resource

Universities collaborate to offer online access to 37 years' worth of Arizona data

TUCSON, Ariz. – December 3, 2007 – Free access to comprehensive economic data for the state of Arizona, and surrounding western regions, covering the period 1969-2005 is now available through a new interactive website, thanks to the joint effort of UA’s Eller College of Management and ASU’s W. P. Carey School of Business.

Last week the Eller College Economic and Business Research Center (EBR) and the W. P. Carey L. William Seidman Research Institute launched the Arizona Regional Economic Analysis Project. The centerpiece of the project is a new interactive website that provides complete economic data for all 15 Arizona counties, as well as regions surrounding the state. The data available for download and customization spans 37 years – 1969 to 2005.

“Users have an interactive, customizable graphic display at their fingertips,” said Marshall Vest, director of EBR. “Now they don’t have to sort through statistics and then manually graph the data to see trends. This new tool is very intuitive and will be a boon to business leaders and researchers. We are thrilled to be able to provide this service for the state.”

The website is free and available for public use. Arizona residents and business leaders can generate customizable reports including graphic trends analysis of local economic indicators and shift-share analysis of local employment growth.

The software for the project was created by Gary W. Smith, director of the Pacific Northwest Regional Economic Analysis Project, and the data was compiled by the Regional Economic Measurement Division (REMD) of the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). The Arizona Regional Economic Analysis Project will be financially supported and maintained by EBR and the W. P. Carey School of Business.

To access the website directly, users can go to www.pnreap.org/arizona. Users can also access the website through the Eller College website at www.ebr.eller.arizona.edu or the W. P. Carey website at http://wpcarey.asu.edu/seid/.  To help users with graphing and research, FAQs are available on the site.

For additional questions or further information please contact Maile Nadelhoffer at 520.621.4050 or email mln@eller.arizona.edu.

W. P. Carey School of Business
W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University is one of the largest business schools in the United States, with more than 190 faculty members, 1,400 graduate students, and more than 5,600 undergraduate students. The school is internationally recognized for its leadership in supply chain management and services marketing and is highly regarded for its faculty’s research productivity. The school’s nine research centers serve as a link between business communities and the areas of marketing, entrepreneurship, information technology, and supply chain management. For more information please visit wpcarey.asu.edu and http://knowledge.wpcarey.asu.edu/.

The Eller College of Management at The University of Arizona is internationally recognized for pioneering research, innovative curriculum, distinguished faculty, excellence in entrepreneurship, and social responsibility. U.S.News & World Report ranks the Eller undergraduate program #12 among public business schools and five of its departments are among the top 25 — Entrepreneurship, MIS, Marketing, Management and Organizations, and Accounting. The MPA program in the School of Public Administration and Policy ranks in the top 50. Financial Times ranks the Eller MBA full-time program #27 in the U.S. and #57 in the world, and Forbes ranks the program among the top 50 nationwide. The College leads the nation’s business schools in generating grant funds for research. In addition to a full-time MBA program, the Eller College offers an evening MBA program, and the Eller Executive MBA. The Eller College of Management supports more than 5,100 undergraduate and 600 graduate students on the UA campus in beautiful Tucson, Arizona.

Press Contact:
Linda Herrick, Eller College Public Relations and Events Coordinator
520.626.2590, news@eller.arizona.edu

Carolyne Kennedy
W. P. Carey School of Business
480.965.7774; carolyne.kennedy@asu.edu