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The Evaluation of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Regional Cluster Initiative Year One Report June 2012 This page is intentionally left blank for two-sided printing. ii The Evaluation of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Regional Cluster Initiative Year One Report Berna Demiralp, Ph.D. Mark Turner, Ph.D. Alexandre Monnard, M.P.P. Prepared for: Prepared by: U.S. Small Business Administration Optimal Solutions Group, LLC 409 3rd St, SW 5825 University Research Court, Suite 2800 College Park, MD 20740 Washington, DC 20416 June 2012 Contract No. SBAHQ-10-C-0051 The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations found in this study are those of the contractor and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Office of Entrepreneurial Development, the United States Small Business Administration, or the United States Government. iii Acknowledgments We are grateful to Scott Henry and Meredith Olafson of the Small Business Administration for their valuable feedback and comments on various phases and aspects of this project. We also thank our Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative, Dionna Martin, for her assistance and guidance. Additionally, our sincere thanks are given to the administration teams of the clusters in SBA’s Regional Cluster Initiative who provided valuable insight about the implementation of the SBA’s Initiative. Finally, we appreciate the contribution of our colleagues at Optimal Solutions Group who assisted in various stages of the project. We thank Soham Banerji, Kimberly Hahn, Claudia Gonzalez-Martinez, Christabel Dadzie, Ernst Nilsson, and Tracye Turner for their valuable input. iv Table of Contents List of Acronyms and Abbreviations ............................................................................................. ix List of Figures ................................................................................................................................. x List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... xiii Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................ 1 1. Introduction................................................................................................................................. 6 1.1. Overview of the Evaluation ...................................................................................... 6 1.2. Report Roadmap ....................................................................................................... 7 2. Overview of Clusters .................................................................................................................. 8 2.1. What is a Cluster? ..................................................................................................... 8 2.2. Common Features of Clusters................................................................................. 10 2.2.1. Composition of cluster participants ................................................................. 10 2.2.2. Defined geographic scope ............................................................................... 12 2.2.3. Defined specialization or industry scope......................................................... 14 2.2.4. Cluster linkages and competitive dynamic ...................................................... 15 2.2.5. The need for critical mass................................................................................ 15 2.2.6. The cluster life cycle........................................................................................ 16 2.3. The Cluster Environment........................................................................................ 17 2.4. Innovation and Clusters .......................................................................................... 19 2.5. The Policy Rationale for Clusters ........................................................................... 22 3. Features of Clusters in SBA’s Initiative .................................................................................. 27 3.1. Geographic Scope of the Clusters in SBA’s Initiative............................................ 27 3.2. Industrial Scope of the Clusters in SBA’s Initiative............................................... 31 3.3. Structure of Clusters in SBA’s Initiative ................................................................ 32 3.4. Maturity Stages of the Clusters in SBA’s Initiative................................................ 38 v 3.5. Different Business Models Used by the Clusters in SBA’s Initiative .................... 41 4. Evaluation Design..................................................................................................................... 46 4.1. Overview................................................................................................................. 46 4.2. Survey Response..................................................................................................... 47 4.3. Analysis Using Secondary Data Sources ................................................................ 49 4.4. Regional Impact Analysis ....................................................................................... 50 5. Implementing SBA’s Regional Cluster Initiative ..................................................................... 51 5.1. Cluster Stakeholders ............................................................................................... 51 5.2. Small Business Participation in the Clusters .......................................................... 53 5.3. Reasons for Participation in the Cluster.................................................................. 57 5.4. Cluster Services and Activities ............................................................................... 62 5.4.1. Overview ......................................................................................................... 62 5.4.2. Providers of service ......................................................................................... 65 5.4.3. Cluster provision of services and cluster management activities .................... 67 5.4.4. Highlights of cluster services .......................................................................... 68 5.5. Measures of Cluster Services and Activities Provided to Small Businesses .......... 75 5.5.1. Cluster services and activities by type and frequency ..................................... 75 5.5.2. Frequency of participation in cluster services and activities ........................... 83 5.5.3. Participants’ satisfaction with cluster services and activities.......................... 85 5.5.4. Quality of services provided: quality indicators.............................................. 88 6. Outcomes of the Regional Cluster Initiative............................................................................. 96 6.1. Overview................................................................................................................. 96 6.2. Short-term/Intermediate Outcomes......................................................................... 97 6.2.1. Alliances and collaborations among cluster participants ................................ 98 6.2.2. Small businesses’ access to capital................................................................ 101 vi 6.2.3. Small businesses’ contract and subcontract awards ...................................... 105 6.2.4. Development of new products and commercialization of new technology... 107 6.2.5. Assistance with small businesses’ marketing strategies................................ 110 6.2.6. Assistance with increasing exports................................................................ 111 6.2.7. Assistance regarding intellectual property issues and patent applications .... 112 6.2.8. Other short-term/intermediate outcomes ....................................................... 113 6.2.9. Summary of short-term/intermediate outcomes ............................................ 115 6.3. Long-term Outcomes ............................................................................................ 117 6.3.1. The number of employees of small businesses ............................................. 117 6.3.2. Revenue of small businesses ......................................................................... 129 6.3.3. Total payroll of small businesses................................................................... 135 6.3.4. Creation of new businesses within the clusters ............................................. 141 6.4. Regional Impact Analysis ..................................................................................... 142 7. Lessons Learned in Cluster Operations .................................................................................. 149 7.1. Lessons learned regarding service selection and delivery to small businesses .... 149 7.2. Lessons learned regarding cluster promotion in the region .................................. 151 7.3. Lessons learned regarding the outreach and recruitment of small businesses...... 151 7.4. Lessons learned regarding small business funding and sales ............................... 153 7.5. Lessons learned regarding cluster development ................................................... 155 7.6. Lessons learned regarding teaming and collaboration.......................................... 156 8. Conclusion .............................................................................................................................
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