The Empowering American Cities Difference
What happens when one of the nation's largest regional banks collaborates with a university-based think tank with a strong reputation for economic research? Together, they generate insights that extend beyond traditional banking solutions to support sustained business growth and healthy communities. Fifth Third Bank provides in-depth local knowledge that comes from 165 years of serving communities. The Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill uses proprietary statistical techniques to analyze data for microeconomies representing 88% of U.S. economic activity.
What Powers Local Economic Engines
Unpacking 'Embedded Local Growth Characteristics' as an Indicator of Regional Economic Health
Embedded Local Growth Characteristics (or ELGC for short) measures how specific elements drive regional economic growth. The ELGC is a composite indicator that includes productivity, industry mix and demographic shifts. Just as with car engines, an economy running with all cylinders fully powered goes further, faster. But clog one cylinder and it will need more fuel to achieve the same effect. Our analysis can help identify ways to fix the engine.
Top 5 Regions
Microeconomies projected to grow fastest in 2024:
Austin
Texas
San Francisco Bay Area
California
Raleigh & Durham
North Carolina
Nashville
Tennessee
Seattle
Washington
What's driving the fastest-growing markets? Why are others falling behind?
Empowering American Cities enables you to view data visualizations and unique regional indicators to see how your city ranks among multiple growth factors.
Regional Economic Snapshots
Examine local context for 30 extended metropolitan areas with a regional snapshot that details drivers of growth and data-driven indicators, including labor supply, consumer demand, and embedded local growth characteristics.
Meet Our Experts
Our lead economists bring nearly 70 years of experience in the private and public sectors to Empowering American Cities. As authors and public speakers, they are skilled at identifying and delivering important economic trends and are frequently called upon as expert sources for national and international media outlets.
Gerald Cohen
Chief Economist
Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise
Sarah Dickerson
Research Economist
Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise
Jeff Korzenik
Chief Economist
Fifth Third
Commercial Bank