Economic Development Strategy, Planning, and Evaluation
Mt. Auburn provides a full range of consulting services in the field of economic development analysis and strategy. Working with a variety of public and private organizations, the firm creates effective economic development policies and programs that promote economic growth and stability, job generation, and the improved functioning of capital markets.
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Beth Siegel, President
As the president and co-founder of Mt. Auburn Associates, Beth Siegel has led Mt. Auburn for over 20 years in designing and implementing regional economic development strategies and evaluating economic development and workforce initiatives.
Since starting Mt. Auburn Associates in 1985, Beth has managed strategic plans for dozens of communities in the Northeast. She led studies in the Hartford, New Haven, and New London regions in Connecticut, in Burlington, Vermont and in Nashua, New Hampshire. An expert in the realm of program evaluation, Beth headed evaluations for the U.S. Economic Development Administration, for a number of states, as well as for foundations. For the past five years she has directed the firm’s evaluation work with The Heinz Endowments in Pittsburgh and a consortium of national and local foundations involved in workforce development in Boston.
Beth’s policy work and writings have been influential in the economic development field. She wrote some of the earliest articles on the role of “clusters” in regional economic development and her report in the mid 90s to the Charles Stewart Mott and Ford foundations— Jobs and the Urban Poor influenced the field of sectoral workforce development. With concern for the fate of smaller cities, she also authored a report for the U.S. Economic Development Administration -- Third Tier Cities: Adjusting to the New Economy. Siegel gained recognition for her work on the strategic role that arts and culture play in economic growth, including the path-breaking study — The Role of the Arts and Culture in New England's Economic Competitiveness, and the recently released Louisiana: Where Culture Means Business.
Prior to founding Mt. Auburn, Beth served as Deputy Research Director of the Massachusetts Governor's Commission on the Future of Mature Industries and spent four years as Senior Associate at Counsel for Community Development, a pioneer in the development finance field. She taught economic development planning in the graduate planning programs at MIT and Tufts University. Siegel received a BA from Beloit College in Wisconsin and a Master in City and Regional Planning from Harvard University.
