How Can Anchor Institutions Affect Economic Development? (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Oct. 25, 2024 |
| Report Number |
IF12795 |
| Report Type |
In Focus |
| Authors |
Adam G. Levin |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
In many urban locations, so-called anchor institutions—
primarily entities such as hospitals and other medical
centers, colleges and universities, cultural organizations,
large non-profits, and, in some cases, for-profit
companies—are major employers and generate significant
economic activity. For example, a 2009 report
commissioned by the U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development (HUD) estimated that “eds and meds”
(a common euphemism for anchor institutions, particularly
those in higher education and health care) employed over
seven million people and generated approximately $1
trillion in economic activity nationally. More recently, the
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia (Philadelphia Fed)
found in 2019 that anchor institutions in the United States
directly employed nearly 10 million people and created
about $1.7 trillion in economic activity.
In recent decades, some policymakers and anchor
institutions have taken a proactive approach to using the
institutions’ size and assets to attempt to drive economic
development. In cities such as Cleveland, anchor
institutions have sought to draw investment to distressed
neighborhoods, provide workforce development
opportunities, and support increased housing supply.
Congress has enacted legislation concerning anchor
institutions in recent years. For example, the Unleashing
American Innovators Act of 2022 (Division W of the
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, P.L. 117-328)
required the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to
consider the proximity of any agency satellite office opened
after January 1, 2023, to anchor institutions, among other
things. This In Focus reviews definitions of anchor
institutions, assesses regional economic reliance on anchor
institutions, and provides considerations for Congress.
