History

Created in 2012, the Iowa Community Indicators Program (ICIP) continues Iowa State University's long tradition of educating communities about regional demographic and economic change. ICIP's lineage includes the following programs:

ISU Retail Trade Analysis Program 

The Retail Trade Analysis Program helped business and community leaders understand trends and competitive strengths in their local retail sectors. The program was initiated in the early 1980s and was coordinated for 20 years by Professor Kenneth Stone, Department of Economics. Dr. Stone was assisted through the years by professional staff members including Scott Baumler and Georgeanne Artz. 

ISU Census Services

The Census Services program delivered demographic data, reports, and presentations to Iowa's communities, helping them understand their local population trends. Initiated in the early 1980s, this program was coordinated for 20 years by Professor Willis Goudy. Professional staff members Sandra Charvat Burke and Margaret Hanson contributed research, subject matter, and technical expertise. Through the years, Census Services set a high standard for extension of census-related information to communities.

Iowa PROfiles

PROfiles was a data project designed make local economic and demographic data more easily accessible to the public. An early leader in the area of Web-based data delivery, the PROfiles project compiled and disseminated data from a variety of government sources. PROfiles was coordinated by Mark Imerman, Department of Economics, from 1994 through 2002.

Rural Development Initiative (RDI)

The RDI program was a mid-1990s initiative to fund economic and community development efforts at Iowa State University. State legislative resources were allocated to the College of Agriculture in support of faculty and professional staff research and service in the Departments of Economics and Sociology.

The Office of Social and Economic Trend Analysis (SETA)

SETA was formed by the merger of the Retail Trade Analysis Program, Census Services, and PROfiles. SETA was administered jointly by the Departments of Economics and Sociology and Community and Economic Development Extension from 2002 through 2007.

Regional Economics & Community Analysis Program (RECAP)

Created in 2007, RECAP expanded SETA's mission of socio-economic data provision to include regional economic analysis services.  RECAP was replaced by ICIP in 2012.