United States

How to stimulate growth and support job creation are two critical challenges that countries confront following the global financial crisis. The Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Programme of the OECD has developed international cross-comparative reviews on local job creation policies to examine the contribution of local labour market policy to boosting quality employment. Each country review examines the capacity of employment services and training providers to contribute to a long-term strategy which strengthens the resiliency of the local economy, increases skills levels and job quality. This report looks at the range of institutions and bodies involved in workforce and skills development in two states – California and Michigan. In-depth fieldwork focused on two local Workforce Investment Boards in each state: the Sacramento Employment and Training Agency (SETA); the Northern Rural and Training and Employment Consortium (NoRTEC); the Southeast Michigan Community Alliance (SEMCA); and the Great Lakes Bay Michigan Works. The report concludes with a number of recommendations and actions to promote job creation at the federal, state and local levels.

As the significance of the creative economy continues to grow, important synergies with tourism are emerging, offering considerable potential to grow demand and develop new products, experiences and markets.These new links are driving a shift from conventional models of cultural tourism to new models of creative tourism based on intangible culture and contemporary creativity. This report examines the growing relationship between the tourism and creative sectors to guide the development of effective policies in this area. Drawing on recent case studies, it considers how to strengthen these linkages and take advantage of the opportunities to generate added value. Active policies are needed so that countries, regions and cities can realise the potential benefits from linking tourism and creativity. Key policy issues are identified.

The OECD Territorial Review of the Chicago Tri-State metropolitan area, the first of its kind conducted by the OECD in the United States, assesses the region’s capacity to contribute effectively to regional and national economic performance and quality of life. The Review focuses on four thematic policy issues: i) the effectiveness and coordination of workforce development programmes in the Chicago Tri-State metro-region; ii) the metro-region’s capacity for innovation; iii) its role as a major centre for logistics in North America; and (iv) its capacity to encourage green growth over the long term. The review also focuses on the state of region-wide institutional collaboration and offers a vision for effective tri-state region-wide stakeholder engagement.