Policies For Place

10 lessons for mid-sized cities: public-private partnerships and good jobs

Kathleen Bolter , Timothy J. Bartik , Brad J. Hershbein , Michelle Miller-Adams , Alfonso Hernandez , Kyle Huisman , Bridget Timmeney

November 3, 2025

The Policies for Place initiative at the Upjohn Institute brings together experts from around the country to study community-based strategies to create good jobs—and how to help people get and keep those good jobs.

Research Areas

Data and Resources

What We Do

Our interdisciplinary approach emphasizes alignment between government, business, and community organizations.

Research Areas

We conduct high quality research into a broad range of factors that can influence a community's vitality.

Working with Communities

We work closely with partners to design, evaluate, and understand how to build effective place-based strategies, including Promise scholarships.

Explore Our Data and Resources

We have developed several resources to help communities better understand the facts and figures behind place-based strategies for promoting community prosperity.

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Evidence Based Strategies

We collect high-quality information and rigorous research to help determine which place-based strategies have the most potential to positively impact communities. Our annual reports highlight such policies.