Lott Center, SSTI Announce Dr. Edward Feser as Winner of the Lott Center Excellence in Technology Based Economic Development Research Award

The Trent Lott National Center of Excellence for Economic Development & Entrepreneurship is pleased to announce its inaugural Excellence in Technology Based Economic Development Research award will be made to Dr. Edward Feser on Oct. 19, 2007, at the SSTI 11th Annual Conference in Baltimore.

 

The Lott Center award recognizes outstanding research contributions to Technology Based Economic Development (TBED) which help economic development practitioners and policymakers grow their regions economies through the recruitment, expansion and start-up of high tech enterprises.

 

Dr. Feser’s research has reshaped the way in which TBED practitioners and policymakers take action and offers new pathways for future action. Areas of specialization include industry clustering, industry cluster analysis methods, agglomeration economies and industrial productivity, migration and regional economic distress, regional influences on process technology adoption in manufacturing, and the improvement of data and spatial-analytical techniques for local development practice. Currently, he is studying economic development policymaking processes and the role that universities can play in assisting states and regions undertake strategic economic development planning.

 

Dr. Feser is professor and interim head of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign (UIUC). He taught at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for seven years prior to coming to UIUC in 2004. In 2003, he served as assistant secretary of the North Carolina Department of Commerce, where he acted as chief economist and senior policy advisor to the Secretary and directed the reorganization and expansion of the agency's Division of Policy, Research and Strategic Planning. He continues to work closely with state and local governments on issues related to his research and acts regularly as a consultant to the corporate sector, government, nonprofit development agencies, and economic development planning firms.

 

The Trent Lott National Center of Excellence for Economic Development & Entrepreneurship is operated by the University of Southern Mississippi. The Lott Center promotes global research on innovation based economic development, provides innovation based economic development education across the U.S., implements innovation programs in South Mississippi and infuses entrepreneurship within the university.

 

SSTI is a national nonprofit organization that leads, supports and strengthens efforts to improve state and regional economies through science, technology, and innovation.