Business Expansion & Strategic Trends (BEST)
BEST of Iowa
Business Expansion & Strategic Trends
Business Expansion and Strategic Trends (BEST of Iowa) is a statewide business retention and expansion program. The program is an existing business collaborative effort between the local developer, MidAmerican Energy, Alliant Energy, Black Hills Energy, Iowa Area Development Group and the Iowa Economic Development Authority. BEST is a national model for using existing business data collected through Synchronist PRIME® interviews with local employers.
What is Synchronist?
Local developers conduct interviews using the Synchronist PRIME® software system with local industry and major employers. Data collected can help the user to identify such things as growth opportunities or potential issues that could lead to business downsizing or closure among other things. Data from these surveys is then aggregated to be analyzed by local and regional users to determine statewide trends. This statewide data is then benchmarked with national data collected from users in more than 30 other states.
Resources & Webinars
- BEST of Iowa Synchronist Webinar March 2021
- Fort Dodge Synchronist Data Utilization
- Using Synchronist Data on Social Media
- Synchronist Updates for 2021
- Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance Data Utilization
- Annual Report Data Storytelling
- January 2021 Webinar - Annual Report
- 2020 BEST Annual Report Highlights
- Executive Summary of 2020 Report
- Local Reporting Template with Local State Data
- BEST July 2020 Webinar Presentation Slides
- July 2020 Webinar
- The Corporate Call
- Synchronist Launch Guide
- Synchronist PRIME On-Site Visit Form
- Synchronist Training Presentation - March 28, 2017
- Synchronist Infographic References
- Synchronist Interviewer Quick Tips #1
- Synchronist Interviewer Quick Tips #2
- Synchronist Prime Survey Form - Purpose of Each Question
- x-Tool Cluster Analysis
- x-Tool How-To Analysis
- VGRS Calculations & Analysis