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In today’s fast-moving, competitive world, economic development organizations (EDOs) and industry associations are key players in bringing new businesses to town and helping local companies grow.
To do this well, EDOs can’t offer just the basics anymore—i.e., tax breaks or a nice location. They must provide market intelligence: clear, useful information about trends, competitors, and opportunities. This isn’t a “nice-to-have;” it’s a must-have for building stronger communities, keeping businesses around, attracting fresh investment, and helping companies go global.
Firms like Camoin Associates can help EDOs and industry associations support businesses by using specific market intelligence, navigating technical datasets and platforms, and helping them understand complex challenges such as supply chains and import/export data.
In this article, I’ll take a closer look at market intelligence, why it matters, and how EDOs and industry associations can use it to make a real difference.
What is Market Intelligence?
Market intelligence is all about gathering and making sense of information—like what’s happening in the economy, what competitors are up to, or what customers want—so businesses can make smart moves. It’s not just piles of data; it’s the kind of insight that helps companies see what’s coming, grab new opportunities, and stay ahead of market trends.
When EDOs and industry associations provide market intelligence, they give businesses a roadmap to grow stronger and stick around longer.
Trends Shaping Market Intelligence Today
The economy is shifting fast and EDOs need to keep up. Numerous factors are shaping the market today, such as:
- Reshoring: Reshoring is a real opportunity happening in the United States, with over 287,000 reshoring jobs announced in 2023, according to the Reshoring Institute. Use supply chain maps to show how your region fits, pairing local suppliers with firms looking to re-shore manufacturing operations.
- Sustainability: The green economy still offers opportunities and buyer demands are rising in this area. To attract eco-conscious companies, offer data on low-emission transport or renewable energy.
- Tech Growth: AI and robotics are everywhere. Workforce research can spotlight tech talent or innovation hubs, which can be crucial for advanced manufacturing or data centers.
Why Supply Chain Analysis Is a Secret Weapon
Let’s zoom in on supply chain analysis—it’s a standout tool too many organizations overlook. Supply chain analysis is not just about trucks, warehouses, rail, air freight, or boats; it’s studying every step, from raw materials to the customer, to find weak links or big wins. When EDOs offer this, they’re not just helpers but partners.
What It Does: Cuts costs, speeds up delivery, reduces risks (like a supplier going offline), and helps companies become more competitive.
How It Wins: Imagine delivering a pitch to a manufacturer where you showcase your community’s value proposition with examples of local suppliers, diverse shipping routes, and a workforce ready to roll. That’s a deal closer.
How Import/Export Data Fuels Global Growth
Trade data is another critical tool that supports an executive’s decision-making process. It shows who’s buying what, where, and how much—think of it as a treasure map for going global. EDOs that use it can:
- Point businesses to growing markets (i.e., “Demand for your widget is up 20% in Brazil”).
- Spot competitors’ moves and price benchmarks.
- Help plan a smooth entry by picking the right buyers or dodging tricky tariffs.
You don’t need to be a trade guru. Point companies to sources like the US Census Bureau or Trade.gov, then help them understand it. A local exporter might double their markets with your nudge.
Technical assistance is also extremely important and many businesses have no idea how to access these data sources. Firms like Camoin Associates help their clients support businesses in navigating and understanding how to use these tools and data sources.
Why This Matters for EDOs and Businesses
For Businesses
In 2025’s rapidly shifting economy, market intelligence cuts through the noise. It helps companies adapt fast, understand and utilize trends, and decrease risks. That’s how they grow and remain resilient.
For EDOs
- Keep Existing Businesses Around: Share data insights about their industry or new markets, and they’re more likely to stay and expand. This means more jobs and a stronger community.
- Attract New Ones: Companies love places that understand their needs. Show off your data on supply chains, workers, or trade, and you become a business magnet.
- Go Global: Help firms break into new countries with trade data or supply chain tips, and your region will shine. State partnerships are incredibly important in helping to support these global connections.
Helping Startups and Local Businesses Thrive with Market Intelligence
EDOs aren’t just about landing big firms or luring companies from afar. They can be lifelines for startups and local businesses right in their backyard, helping them find buyers, sell smarter, and grow their bottom line.
Market intelligence is the key. It’s about giving these companies clear, actionable insights into cracking new markets and building their business, all while staying rooted in your community.
Startups and local businesses are your community’s backbone. According to the Kauffman Foundation, 80% of new jobs come from companies under five years old. But they’re strapped for resources.
When EDOs step in with market intelligence, they level the playing field. A small manufacturer finds a buyer in the next state or a service startup lands a contract with a regional chain. Either way, their growth stays local, boosting jobs and community pride.
5 Strategic Pieces of Market Intelligence EDOs Should Offer
1. Custom Market Research: Know Your Playing Field
What It Is: EDOs can create reports that dig into industry trends, customer habits, and what competitors are doing. These include hard numbers (e.g., market size or growth forecasts) and real-world insights (e.g., what experts or surveys say).
Why It Helps: Businesses use this to spot shifts early, plan their next steps, and stand out in a crowded market. For example, a manufacturer could learn if demand for their product is rising in a new region and adjust accordingly.
2. Supply Chain Intelligence: Keep the Wheels Turning
What It Is: EDOs map out how goods move locally, regionally, or globally, spot weak spots, connect businesses to suppliers, and suggest ways to remain resilient in times of change (e.g., changes in policy, tariffs, or technology innovations).
Why It Helps: This keeps companies running smoothly in a world of disruptions. Say a local factory relies on one supplier; EDOs can help them find backups or use technology and data to avoid delays, keeping them competitive.
3. Import/Export Data: Go Global with Confidence
What It Is: Using trade data, EDOs show businesses where to sell overseas, what is being imported, and how to be more competitive abroad. This covers trade volumes, tariffs, and buyers’ needs in other countries.
Why It Helps: Companies can pick the best markets, lessen trade risks, and make more money. For instance, a small exporter might find a booming market with the right consumers they’d never considered.
4. Freight Flows and Trucking Data: Map the Movement
What It Is: This tracks how goods travel—by truck, across states, or through ports—showing where goods come from, where they’re going, and how often they move. Freight flows are important because small and medium-sized businesses in rural communities face Transportation, Warehousing, and Logistics (TWL) challenges due to fewer products going in and out of the region. EDOs can do more than pitch their region as a hub; they can support businesses by providing this data to build the entire TWL network from the inside.
Why It Helps: EDOs can pitch their region as a logistics hub or prove it’s a smart spot for a warehouse. If your area is on a busy freeway like I-95, you can show a company they’ll save time and money locating there.
5. Workforce Intelligence: Find the Right People
What It Is: EDOs analyze who’s available to work, including skills, wages, training options, and trends like an aging workforce or new graduates in the pipeline.
Why It Helps: Businesses can create more robust recruiting and training programs by partnering with different types of education institutions within the community. Manufacturers are looking for training programs as a pipeline for talent, whether it’s a four-year degree for engineers or a Career and Technical Education (CTE) program for graduating high schoolers.
Real-World Examples
Henrico County EDA: Through its Global Business Gateway, they offer a full suite of business intelligence and advisory services, including dedicated office spaces, custom market research, lead generation, workforce solutions, and professional services. This hands-on approach helps international companies establish a foothold in the US quickly and effectively.
Southern Carolina EDA: Their Landing Pad program similarly provides critical market insights, logistical support, site selection guidance, and tailored connections to local networks. Such targeted assistance significantly accelerates a company’s market entry process, boosting long-term success.
How to Turn Market Intelligence into Economic Impact
Economic development organizations and industry associations don’t need to reinvent the wheel to deliver smarter support to local businesses. The key to unlocking value from market intelligence isn’t just collecting data—it’s building a system that turns insight into action. That means delivering the right information to the right people at the right time.
You don’t have to go it alone either. Partner with universities, consultants, real estate professionals, or your local small business development center (SBDC). These collaborators help fill gaps, expand your capacity, and often see insights you might miss.
Then, before you dive into strategy, talk directly with your businesses, including startups, manufacturers, and exporters. Ask them: What’s keeping you up at night? What do you need to grow? Their answers will shape intelligence into something useful, usable, and actionable.
Here’s what it looks like in practice:
- Spot the Right Markets: Use trade data, customer trends, or competitor info to find out where demand is growing. Maybe a local brewery learns there’s a thirst for IPAs in a nearby metro, or a software startup identifies demand from small businesses two counties over. This kind of insight helps businesses avoid costly guesswork and focus on markets where buyers are already waiting.
- Understand the Customer: Tap into consumer behavior and industry needs with surveys, market reports, or free tools like Google Trends. A bakery could discover a growing interest in gluten-free options, or a service firm might learn that manufacturers need help streamlining their software systems. With that knowledge, businesses can adjust their offerings or messaging to hit the mark.
- Size Up the Competition: Help companies map out who’s already in the market, what those competitors are doing, and where the gaps are. Maybe online delivery is underserved, or there’s room for a differentiated service model. When businesses understand their competitive landscape, they can focus on their edge—whether that’s price, service, or innovation—without blindly taking on industry giants.
- Connect to Buyers and Partners: Use your knowledge of supply chains, industry dynamics, and buyer trends to make introductions. Maybe a local startup making eco-friendly packaging needs a connection to a regional grocery chain. Your role as a connector can help turn insights into deals.
- Boost Growth with Smarts, Not Size: Share freight data that helps a handmade goods company ship more efficiently. Or point a growing design firm toward local freelance talent that can scale its capacity without adding overhead. Not every business needs to expand its footprint—some just need to work smarter.
EDOs can be the spark that turns a good idea into a great business. With market intelligence, you’re not just supporting survival, you’re fueling success, one sale at a time.
Camoin Associates is here to help EDOs and industry associations stretched thin by limited budgets or staffing get this done. We don’t just hand over a bunch of raw numbers. We dig into market research, supply chains, workforce trends, and trade flows, then craft plans and strategies that fit your community’s goals or support specific industries or businesses.
Our proprietary tools and hands-on approach turn data into decisions: helping a startup find its first big buyer, guiding an international firm to your doorstep, or showing a manufacturer how to outsmart the competition. This isn’t about one-off wins but building a cycle of success. Every dataset you share, every connection you spark, and every story you tell strengthens your region’s edge.
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