Universities, hospitals, and cultural institutions are among any region's largest economic assets.
Questions we answer
- What is the full range of this institution's economic and social contributions to the city, region, or state?
- How is this impact best communicated to legislators, local government, or a skeptical public?
- What does analysis and benchmarking show about what a fair and mutually beneficial PILOT or community benefit agreement looks like?
- What is the broad economic return on an innovation district or research park investment?
How we work
Our approach combines standard economic impact methodology with analysis of catalytic and community-level outcomes: the startup that launched from a university research lab, the neighborhood opportunities that follow a hospital's local hiring commitment, the talent pipeline that kept a regional industry competitive. Our team works directly with institutional leadership and government affairs teams across institution types (research universities, regional colleges, community colleges, academic medical centers, cultural institutions), bringing pattern recognition from comparable situations and an equity lens as standard practice.
What we deliver
- Institutional economic impact studies
- An institution's full economic footprint as an employer, purchaser, and investor.
- Catalytic and downstream value analysis
- The spillover value standard models miss: startups, talent pipelines, neighborhood effects.
- PILOT and tax policy analysis
- The analysis and benchmarking behind a fair payment-in-lieu-of-taxes position.
- Campus planning economics
- How a campus growth strategy affects the institution and its surrounding community.
- Innovation district and research park economic impact
- The economic return on innovation district and research park investment.
- Community benefit agreement analysis
- What a fair, mutually beneficial community benefit agreement looks like, backed by analysis.
- Town-gown economic strategy
- Strategy for a productive relationship between an institution and its host community.
- Peer benchmarking and comparative analysis
- How an institution's contribution compares to its peers.
Featured projects
Anchor Institution Impact · 2026
Quantifying the Economic Footprint and Catalytic Role of Johns Hopkins
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Anchor Institution Impact · 2025
The Economic, Fiscal, and Community Impact of Destination Medical Center: A 10-Year Look Back
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Anchor Institution Impact · 2025
Anchored in Excellence: How Massachusetts’ Education and Healthcare Institutions Drive Regional Economic Growth
Read the reportExplore our other practice areas
Economic Development and Sector Strategy
Economic development strategy and industry analysis that grows local and regional economies. Explore
Infrastructure Economics
Benefit cost analysis for transportation projects, TOD market analysis, property value analytics. Explore
Public Policy and Fiscal Analysis
Policy analysis related to fiscal impact, public investment and incentives, and housing economics. Explore
Real Estate and Land Use Planning
Market and feasibility studies, highest-and-best-use, and the economics of land use and development. Explore