{"id":7412,"date":"2017-11-28T13:55:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-28T18:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/earlhamcollege.wpengine.com\/?p=7412"},"modified":"2021-03-26T14:37:20","modified_gmt":"2021-03-26T18:37:20","slug":"new-faculty-student-study-pinpoints-challenges-of-measuring-economic-impact-in-local-downtown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/earlham.edu\/news-events\/new-faculty-student-study-pinpoints-challenges-of-measuring-economic-impact-in-local-downtown\/","title":{"rendered":"New faculty-student study pinpoints challenges of measuring economic impact in local downtown"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Earlhamites discovered the challenge of measuring economic impact as part of a new research endeavor last summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its report about Richmond\u2019s Innovation Center, a business incubator and tech start-up, the team identified that up to 53 jobs, $2.8 million in local earnings and $7.9 million in economic development can be associated with the Center\u2019s work. Or can it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jonathan Diskin<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe report\u2019s main finding is that there is no acceptable way to determine what share of this impact is actually due to the work of the Innovation Center,\u201d says Professor of Economics Jonathan Diskin, the Earlham faculty mentor who managed the project. \u201cThe work done by the students and I led to the conclusion that there are many causes of economic change and attributing these outcomes to specific actions is a problematic way to do impact studies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ali Shahram Musavi \u201919, Isit Pokharel \u201918 and Anh Nguyen \u201919 worked alongside Diskin last summer to document the range of economic and community impacts the Innovation Center has fostered as part of a broader set of community redevelopment goals throughout the city and Wayne County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis project was born out of an existing relationship and a need,\u201d Diskin says. \u201cWe mobilized to do that. What I really like about this work is that there was a sense of discovery to it. We weren\u2019t quite sure what questions we would be asking at first.  We started by looking at what the Center is and what it does and how it supports local learning and economic development. For the students, and for me, having a deadline and a product that someone expects you to produce helped us focus our attention in different ways than classroom assignments do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the course of the research project, the team conducted nearly 40 interviews of downtown entrepreneurs, educators, non-profits and city leaders. The team inventoried the type of education, workshops and networking the Center hosts, as well as the investments and hiring being made downtown. They also studied other business incubators in other communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wanted to have the experience of working with a faculty member and doing more than a traditional research project where I might just sit at table reading and writing,\u201d Pokharel says. \u201cThis project accomplished that goal. I got to be part of something that let me engage with the community and develop real research and communication skills.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a modest budget of $145,000 annually, the report determined that the Innovation Center has a wide-ranging impact by promoting technology education, workshops, co-working and office space, and fostering networking relationships. But they also determined that there was no clear way of separating the impact of the Center\u2019s initiatives from the many other forces shaping economic development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m really happy with the work this team did in researching coworking, business incubator and maker spaces as part of their broader research findings,\u201d says Scott Zimmerman, the director of the Innovation Center. \u201cI expect to continue my relationship with Earlham and its students as we expand our important work downtown.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This project is just the latest opportunity available to students through Earlham\u2019s growing faculty-student research program and the Epic Advantage<\/a>, which offers every student a funded internship, project or research experience before graduation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere was a lot of discovery and coming up with new ideas,\u201d Musavi says. \u201cWe had to be assertive and creative while determining how we were going to analyze the activities of the Innovation Center. The People of Richmond were really open, friendly and inviting. That made this experience very exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diskin, who teaches courses on Urban Political Economy, is a regular collaborator with students. He has led three research projects in Cincinnati where he serves on the board of Over-the-Rhine Community Housing, a Cincinnati non-profit committed to affordable housing and inclusive community. This is Diskin\u2019s first summer research initiative in Richmond though students in his Urban Politics Economic course did research on Richmond\u2019s blight elimination program three years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe learned that people have their own stories but share common concerns about the downtown,\u201d Nguyen says. \u201cWe even discovered that Earlham alumni have a strong network downtown and that the relationship between Earlham and Richmond has changed over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research team found that Earlham\u2019s legacy on the tech world in Richmond is substantial, showing that the creativity and resilience needed for successful entrepreneurial activity and a broad-based liberal arts education go hand in hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n