Podcast 197: Inside IMPLAN - Fifty Years of Economic Impact Analysis with Candi Clouse

Turning “Trust Me, It’s Good for Jobs” into Actual Numbers

3 Nov 2025 — 3 min read

In this episode Candi Clouse from IMPLAN joins Dane Carlson to unpack how the fifty-year-old economic-impact platform grew from a U.S. Forest Service project into the industry’s gold standard for analyzing how local and regional economies respond to change. She explains the basics of input-output modeling, how opening a single manufacturing plant can affect hundreds of related industries and household spending, and describes how IMPLAN empowers users to measure those effects in real time.

Candi also shares her personal journey from psychology to economic development, the surprising ripple effects of Ohio’s motion-picture tax credit, and how IMPLAN’s data helps states compare investments, balance urban-rural needs, and plan for reshoring and supply-chain shifts.

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Episode Links

Ten Actionable Takeaways for Economic Developers

Model before you pitch. Use tools like IMPLAN to quantify job creation, supply-chain effects, and GDP impact before presenting a project to stakeholders.
Show the ripple. Frame your community’s value through indirect and induced effects—not just the direct jobs.
Use data as persuasion. Legislators and boards respond better when economic development stories include hard numbers.
Compare scenarios. Model multiple industries or locations to demonstrate the trade-offs of different investments.
Balance portfolios. Diversify industry targets—mix manufacturing, services, and creative sectors to weather downturns.
Think regionally. Impacts rarely stop at county or city borders; include linked regions in your analysis.
Highlight environmental metrics. Incorporate land, water, and emissions data to align with sustainability goals.
Revisit annually. Update your models as productivity, labor, and reshoring trends shift year to year.
Use modeling to support retention. Apply impact analysis not only for recruitment but also to demonstrate the value of existing employers.
Tell human stories. Translate model outputs into narratives about how investments improve household income, opportunity, and quality of life.

Great Quotes from the Episode

“All industries are connected to the rest of the economy through buy-sell relationships.”
“With IMPLAN, you can see how a hundred-million-dollar investment ripples through jobs, wages, supply chains, and even environmental impact.”
“Economic development isn’t just about attracting companies—it’s about understanding how people and places shape one another.”
“The Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit proved that a blockbuster movie can boost everything from catering to window-washing services.”
“Diversifying industries is like diversifying your portfolio—it helps communities weather economic storms.”

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