We believe that incentives should be used to accomplish community goals – not just win a deal.  The problem is that we haven’t had the data to let us know which incentive packages and programs actually help our communities. Smart Incentives works every day to provide state and local governments the data and analytics they need to identify what works and to enable sound decisions when awarding incentives.

Our four core principles are that a) we use specialized data and analytical tools to support decision-making throughout the incentives process, and b) we help the economic development profession prepare for greater transparency and accountability in the use of incentives. 

We apply these principles to the four different stages of the incentives process:

Today’s environment requires better analytics to reduce risk, quantify benefits, refine strategies, explain and build support for decisions and, most importantly, to achieve better outcomes.