to the Future:

Travelers starting a new journey need a good map. Likewise unions and other organizations that want to build strong communities with good jobs need good maps of their local terrain, a clear idea of where they are now and where they want to go, and a plan for how to get from here to there. That's what regional assessments and strategic planning can offer. They provide solid starting points for efforts to build effective high road regional partnerships.

Regional assessment and strategic planning have helped launch high road initiatives in many communities around the country. From New York's Garment Industry Development Corporation to the South Bay Labor Council and other initiatives in the San Francisco Bay area to the San Diego Central Labor Council and the Milwaukee Regional Training Partnership, this very logical and practical approach has been used to move beyond general ideas about doing "something" to create and preserve good jobs toward highly effective regional and industry initiatives.

What Do We Look For in Assessments?
In developing assessments of their regional economy, high road advocates gather basic information:

• Where are the jobs now? Which industries are growing and which are shrinking?
• What kind of wages and benefits are being offered in different industries Are they going up or down?
• What kind of economic growth is going on in the community? How does it impact different kinds of workers and neighborhoods.
• What are emerging clusters of companies and jobs? In what industries are they are to be found? How that is all changing?

Regional assessments can also identify current and potential allies and uncover key pressure points where unions and community partners can influence the economic decision-making process.

• Are these critical skill shortages that could be filled by coordinated training programs?
• Are there incentives of jobs where wages and working conditions could be improved by innovative strategies for increased worker voice?
• Are there concentrations of jobs where wages and working conditions could be improved by innovative strategies for increased worker voice?
• Can we see where jobs have been growing and will be expanding in the future?

A good regional assessment provides a baseline of data that can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of different strategies and approaches - to determine what's needed and what isn't, what could work and what won't. It can identify economic trends before they full materialize and give union and community leaders early warning about development that may cause trouble - or provide opportunities - in the future.

What Are the Results of Regional Assessments?

Credibility and legitimacy in the policymaking arena are among the most important results of a good report assessing the regional economy. Elected officials and other policy makers often don't have the information to see the world from perspective of working families. They are often surprised to discover, for instance, that inequality is rising, that skill shortages are holding back the local economy, or that living costs exceed income for many working families.

Good research numbers well presented can help define and shape the public debate on questions like Living Wage campaigns and setting responsible public standards for companies that received economic development assistance from cities, counties and states. For us to succeed, it is critical to educate friends, allies and public officials as to what is actually going on in the economic life of the community.

From Mapping the Economy to Mapping a Strategy

Collecting assessment information is not the final goal, but a necessary step toward a more important end. The data, numbers and insights learned through the research process need to be organized, refined and interpreted by and for the unions, community organizations, and high road employers that intend to work together. Action plans need to be developed that utilize all the available resources in the community. That's what strategic planning is all about.

Stakeholder Participation

During the strategic planning process, stakeholders who want to and can work together productively frame the picture of the future they want to get to. Working together, they identify long-term goals and prioritize the objectives they need to achieve in reaching those goals. They map their resources, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, allied, opponents and targets, and specific action steps are identified. Organizational needs are highlighted. Responsibilities for follow-up are assigned to specific individuals or groups, action steps outlined and process for monitoring and reviewing achievement of the plan is laid out.

It's an internal, as well as an external exercise. The object of the plan may be to influence an external economic or public policy decision, and that may involve a lot of community organizing and mobilization, but in order to achieve that result, there may also need to be a lot of internal education, organization and mobilization. A deliberate and fully developed strategic planning process can provide the framework for shared discussion, collective decision-making, and organizational revitalization. It is all about developing a consensus strategy among a wide range of actors as to how to move from where we are to where we want to be.

San Diego Labor Council
Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership
New York State and the Fiscal Policy Institute
Berkley Center for Labor Research & Education

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