What We Do
High Road Strategies, LLC was founded in 2006 to help government, industry, labor and public interest leaders find solutions to complex economic, industrial, and technology policy problems. Employing its three-pronged high road approach, High Road Strategies services are designed to advance solutions to economic issues that also promote environmental sustainability, maintain and create high quality jobs, and support critical societal needs.
“Low-road” economic and business strategies typically promote economic growth and industrial competitiveness at the expense of environmental protection, good jobs and labor standards, quality public services, and other social goals. In contrast, “high road” solutions emphasize achieving economic objectives by embracing and promoting broader environmental, labor, and social aims. The high road philosophy is being applied to problems in economic, business, and workforce development, the delivery of vital human services (such as health care), and promoting environmental sustainability.
Similarly, much of High Road Strategies' current work is devoted to the design, evaluation and implementation of economic growth and competitiveness policies based on improved energy-efficiency and the adoption of low-carbon energy sources and industrial processes. It also is supporting initiatives to expand investments in clean and efficient energy systems that could revitalize America's manufacturing base, generate new business opportunities, and produce large gains in jobs and revenues at the local, state and national levels.
The High Road Approach
The High Road Strategies approach includes the following three elements:
Collaborative process—actively engaging the participation of stakeholders—labor, business, environmental and public interest groups, communities, and government—whose views and interests regarding critical public policy and legislative issues (e.g., energy and climate policy) may not always align. The goal is to clarify and define problems so they are amenable to research and analysis, leading to policy solutions based on areas of common interest and agreement.
Innovative analysis—quantitative and qualitative research and analytical tools applied to the evaluation of economic, industrial, technological, energy and environmental policy issues. When appropriate to the scale and scope of a problem, High Road Strategies can apply systems dynamic modeling tools (in collaboration with the Millennium Institute) that permit highly flexible, empirically-based, dynamic evaluation of economic systems behavior in response to alternative policy scenarios. Stakeholders' participation is also solicited in the research and modeling process to ensure that outcomes more accurately reflect their concerns and perspectives.
High road solutions—High Road Strategies services are designed to provide empirically-grounded guidance to policymakers engaged in identifying policies and strategies that most realistically and effectively meet the economic interests of multiple stakeholders, while achieving critical public goals.
High Road Strategies Services
High Road Strategies provides a range of services and products that can be tailored to a client’s needs in the effort to find practical, high road solutions to complex policy problems. These include, for example:
- Needs assessment, problem definition and project development
- Empirically-based research and analysis of policy impacts and options
- Analysis of national and regional economic, industrial and technological trends
- Sectoral studies, including industrial and work-organization analyses
- Policy and strategic guidance and expert consulting
- Policy and legislative recommendations
- Reports, white papers, presentations and briefings
High Road Strategies applies its expertise and innovative analytical approach to address problems in two related policy areas:
Energy, climate change and the economy—fostering the conversion to a low-carbon economy, strengthening manufacturing competitiveness, and promoting economic development and job creation through environmentally sustainable policies.
Strengthening domestic industrial competitiveness in a global economy—by promoting industrial retention and conversion, high road economic development, high performance work organizations and high-skilled, high quality workforces.
Results, Outcomes & Products
- Policy and legislative recommendations
- Reports, briefing papers, whitepapers & published articles
- Policy and strategic guidance and expert advice
- Presentations and briefings
- Conferences, workshops and panels
Research Analysis & Development
Policy Analysis & Development
- Needs assessment & project definition
- Assess client concerns & needs
- Engage stakeholders to gauge concerns, interests & proposals
- Identify policy and strategic options
- Scopes of work & proposals
- Analysis of policy impacts and options
- Economic impacts of policy options
- Measures to mitigate impacts
- Opportunities & benefits
- Technology options & policies
Sectoral Studies
- National & regional industrial trends
- Industry case studies
- Workforce and community adjustment
- Analysis of regional industry clusters
Policy Clusters
Energy, Climate Change & the Economy
- Energy, climate change and manufacturing competitiveness
- Green economic development
- Green technology opportunities
- Industrial retention & conversion
- Green jobs and employment
Industrial Competitiveness
- Manufacturing revitalization &international markets
- Manufacturing &national security
- Innovation, productivity and technological change
- Supply chain strategies
- Labor markets &workforce development
- High performance work organization initiatives
Analytical Tools & Methods
- Qualitative and statistical analyses of national, regional,
and industrial economic patterns- System dynamics modeling of industrial and regional
energy-economic-technical systems- Logic modeling-based industrial and work organization
case studies