WCU launches online dashboard of WNC
Western Carolina University has launched a new online information tool designed to provide easy access to recent economic trends in the counties of Western North Carolina and across the entire state to everyone from community-minded residents and college students conducting research to industry and business executives exploring possible locations for expansion.
Called the North Carolina Data Dashboard, the economics database includes more than 12,000 unique data series from sources such as the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Federal Reserve Economic Database.
The open-access electronic resource will serve as a one-stop information source that includes nearly 12 million independent observations from categories including workforce, product markets, land and infrastructure, said WCU economics professor Angela K. Dills, who holds the university’s Gimelstob-Landry Distinguished Professorship in Regional Economic Development and is one of the primary drivers behind the project.
“The new economic data dashboard fills a growing need for information that’s available in an easy-to-use format,” said Dills. “With this dashboard, Western North Carolinians from all walks of life – from small business owners and entrepreneurs, to economic developers, to laypeople who are curious about the WNC economic engine – will have access to vital information about their economy and their communities.”
To view the dashboard, visit the website NCDataDashboard.org.
