Elaine Van S. Carmichael, AICP

Elaine Van S. Carmichael provides consulting services to public sector entities in need of tourism development strategies, economic action plans, and community revitalization. Citizen and leadership participation, often in facilitated sessions, is always a key compnent of her work.

Ms. Carmichael received her Bachelor of Arts from Yale University and her Masters in Urban and Regional Planing from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Before joining Economics Research Associates, she worked for the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority and the Cities of Boston and New Haven. A member of Lambda Alpha International and the American Institute of Certified Planners, she also teaches in the graduate program at Johns Hopkins University Berman Institute of Real Estate.

Economics Research Associates

Many of the regions which retain Elaine Van S. Carmichael and the Economics Research Associates are rural enclaves with competing objectives: preserving community character and ambiance while attracting economic development. Ms. Carmichael’s tourism development strategies focus on helping regions celebrate their cultural heritage and physical assets, optimizing the preservation and interpretation of indigenous resources to benefit residents and to attract an appropriate volume of appreciative visitors.

Most of the cultural facilities who retain Ms. Carmichael seek help identifying ways to become more financially sound, while others seek a better understanding of the breadth and depth of available market support as they contemplate physical and programmatic expansions and the concomitant feasibility implications. She develops marketing, earned revenue, and fund-raising strategies as part of business planning efforts for a wide range of commercial and not-for-profit institutions throughout the United States.

Often working in conjunction with other firms, Ms. Carmichael frequently provides the economic and real estate analysis essential for creating achievable community development plans. Her economic development strategies often involve creating new and improved programs to attract new businesses, expand and retain existing ones, improve job training offerings, foster public-private partnerships and business alliances, and increase inter-governmental and inter-agency coordination and cooperation. Clients often ask that economic and/or fiscal impact analyses be conducted for existing projects, proposed attractions or policies under consideration, including tourism and economic development strategies.

Carmichael’s strategies entail the identification of ways to generate economic activity, including stimulating sensitive private sector investment in these special places without denuding the quality of the experience for future residents and travelers. Ms. Carmichael’s tourism development clients range from small towns to state agencies. She is a frequent speaker on heritage, cultural and eco-tourism.

Papers by Elaine Van S. Carmichael