About Clusters – Fall 2025 Session 1

This session provides an overview of cluster development. It is the first in a series of six sessions on cluster identification and prioritization being offered in partnership with the NADO Research Foundation in fall 2025.

Agenda

• Course goals and overview
• Explaining cluster development’s appeal
• Unpacking jargon
• Comparing clusters to other economic development approaches
• Funding cluster development strategies

Recording & Slides

The video has a password to protect the privacy of participant discussion. Contact info [at] excelregions.com if you believe you should have access to the video.

Slides for the session can be downloaded here [pdf].

Feedback

Please provide your feedback on this session at: https://forms.gle/NyXRTVgUhS8mXP5g9

We will use this information to improve future offerings of the course and to adjust later sessions to netter meet this cohort’s needs.

For Next Session

• Identify at least one potential industry cluster in your region that you would like to explore in the data.
• [Optional] Visit https://www.census.gov/naics/ or https://www.naics.com/search/ to identify specific industry codes that could apply to your selected cluster.
• [Optional] Download firm and/or employment data from BLS or proprietary sources for those NAICS codes in your region and the U.S.
  • The Census’ County Business Patterns table creator tool does appear to be down. If you are very comfortable with using raw data files & have a computer that can use Excel to run massive files, you can access the underlying datasets at: https://www.census.gov/data/datasets/2023/econ/cbp/2023-cbp.html

Background

• Porter, M.E. (1998). “Clusters and the New Economics of Competition.” Harvard Business Review, 76, 6, 77-90. Retrieved: https://hbr.org/1998/11/clusters-and-the-new-economics-of-competition.
• De Almeida Tavares, M. S., Gohr, C. F., Morioka, S., & Da Cunha, T. R. (2021). Systematic literature review on innovation capabilities in clusters. Innovation & Management Review, 18(2), 192–220. https://doi.org/10.1108/inmr-12-2019-0153.
• Delgado, M., Porter, M. E., Stern, S., Center for Economic Studies, & U.S. Census Bureau. (2010). Clusters and entrepreneurship. http://ssrn.com/abstract=1689084.
• Ketels, Christian & Sergiy Protsiv (2021) Cluster presence and economic performance: a new look based on European data, Regional Studies, 55:2, 208-220, DOI: 10.1080/00343404.2020.1792435.
• Delgado, M., & Porter, M. E. (2021). Clusters and the Great Recession. SSRN. https://ssrn.com/abstract=3819293.
• Campi, M., & Dueñas, M. (2022). Clusters and Resilience during the COVID-19 Crisis: Evidence from Colombian Exporting Firms. In Inter-American Development Bank, IDB Working Papers Series (No. 1375). http://www.iadb.org.