EDA to Sponsor the IMPACT Index, a Research Project by InBIA in Collaboration with the University of Central Florida

ORLANDO, Fla. - May 23, 2016 - PRLog -- The International Business Innovation Association (InBIA), a non-profit organization and global advocate for stakeholders within entrepreneur-driven economic ecosystems, today announced its plans to develop the IMPACT Index. In collaboration with the University of Central Florida, and sponsored by the U.S. Economic Development Agency (EDA), the IMPACT Index will be a robust database of key performance metrics related to the economic impact of entrepreneurship programs including incubators, accelerators, coworking spaces, university innovation centers and other entrepreneurship centers in communities across the United States.

The IMPACT Index will consist of a broad range of metrics based on a comprehensive survey that will be deployed as phase I of the project this summer. Any U.S.-based entrepreneurship program is eligible to participate. The goal of the project is to create a standardized database that is accessible to participating organizations so they can benchmark program performance across a broad range of variables.

Phase II of the project will begin later this fall and will be focused on the companies being served by entrepreneurship programs, both current clients and those who have graduated. Longitudinal growth metrics and demographic data will be collected from these companies to provide quantitative results on the success rates for entrepreneurs who received support from participating programs.

"With the IMPACT Index, organizations that serve entrepreneurs can evaluate program performance against a national set of peer programs, and identify trends that are specific to them," says Kirstie Chadwick, President and CEO of InBIA. "It is important for us to develop a comprehensive performance dataset to help drive more awareness to the deep economic impact of entrepreneurship centers in communities across the United States."

Once both phases are complete, InBIA will provide each participant with an individualized benchmark report. In addition, the IMPACT Index database will be made available to participants, enabling them to extract raw aggregate data to develop their own custom reports. This type of data, which doesn't exist today in a standardized way, will also help community leaders focused on entrepreneurial economic development identify key performance drivers and entrepreneurial demographics that are unique to their regions.

The survey opens in early summer, starting with a small population of InBIA members, before expanding to all members and then to nonmembers. For more information about the IMPACT Index, please visit http://impactindex.inbia.org/.

About InBIA:
The International Business Innovation Association (InBIA) is an international non-profit organization and global advocate for incubators, accelerators, educational institutions and regional economic development stakeholders. With more than 2,100 members in over 60 nations, InBIA provides its members with essential information, education, advocacy and networking resources to bring excellence to the process of assisting early-stage companies succeed. Visit www.inbia.org to learn more.