Economic Development Research Group (EDR Group) is a firm dedicated to advancing the state-of-the-art in economic evaluation and analysis to support planning and policy in the areas of transportation, energy resources, urban development, and economic growth strategy.

EDR Group, now in its 20th year, was started with a core philosophy — to contribute to a better society by enhancing the understanding of economic processes and by improving the tools we have for decision-support regarding policies and investments. We focus on economic development and its relationship to public and private investments, programs and policies. We aim to empower clients to better plan and implement actions that are efficient, sustainable and serve to grow jobs, increase incomes, reduce disparities and enhance quality of life.

Since the beginning, we have maintained a select staff distinguished by three features: (1) technical excellence applying and furthering “state-of-the-art” analysis methods, (2) vision and leadership in communicating findings and helping clients use information for decision-making, and (3) ability to work effectively with others in teams, to address client needs.

EDR initially built a practice based on evaluation — of past projects, existing programs and proposed future investments around North America. We have since expanded to serve a global clientele, and to advise organizations on how to better implement processes for planning, prioritization and funding decisions that consider wider benefit and impact factors. To further that objective, in 2016 we became an affiliate of EBP — an international group for interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation — to enable more effective planning and analysis, with a goal of balancing economic, social and environmental sustainability.