Criteria for Identifying Strategic Industry Clusters for Workforce Development

Strategic clusters for workforce development shall be identified by creating an index of the 12 variables provided in Sommers et al (2008) plus output per employee and weighting three workforce variables to count twice, as shown below.

Cluster Analysis Variables	Workforce Index
Location Quotient	Count once
Employment	Count twice
Output	Count once
Earnings/ Worker	Count once
Percent of Occupations in Middle Wage Range	Count twice
Percent of Occupations in High Wage Range	Count twice
Change in Establishments 2001-07	Count once
Change in Employment 2001-07	Count once
Change in Wages 2001-07	Count once
Projected Empoyment. Increase 2006-16	Count once
R & D Occupations as a Percent of Total Empl.	Count once
Exports as a Percent of Output	Count once
Output/Employment	Count once

Rationale
Of all the characteristics examined in the cluster study, employment and the percent of middle- and high-wage occupations (jobs) are the variables that offer the most direct indicators of a cluster’s potential to offer good and plentiful employment opportunities to the state’s workforce.

Sommers et al, Industry Cluster Analysis for Washington State Workforce Development Areas, November 2008. http://www.wtb.wa.gov/ClusterAnalysis.asp