Why Whitman County Trends?
Our Goal: To Democratize Data
The Port of Whitman County created Whitman County Trends as part of its effort to further local economic and community development efforts across the Palouse. The Port was appointed by Whitman County in 2023 to serve as the County’s Associate Development Organization (ADO) for two years. ADOs partner with the Washington State Department of Commerce, gathering data and reporting on economic activity within their county.
Whitman County Trends seeks to improve local, public decision making by providing relevant data in an easily navigable website. The data provided on this website is offered as neutral information.
More specifically, the goals are:
- To compile and disseminate a broad set of measures to support informed decision making by individual community members, governmental policy makers, non-governmental organizations, businesses, researchers and the press.
- To benchmark Whitman County against Washington State trends, U.S., or when possible, comparable communities.
Our Approach
The measures follow several criteria, shared by Trends projects throughout Washington state:
- Important to large numbers of the community
- Valid measurements defined by good science and social science
- Understandable to a lay audience
- Available repeatedly over time to allow trend analysis
- Sourced from credible sites
- Sourced from credible sites
A Process, not a Product
The trends have been developed using state and federal databases. The site continues to evolve, as we add additional trends every year and occasionally delete some. To provide the most relevant data, we would appreciate hearing from site users. Please take advantage of our feedback box to give us your thoughts and help to improve our offering.
The role of Eastern Washington University
Website development and maintenance comes from Eastern Washington University's (EWU) Institute (Institute) for Public Policy and Economic Analysis. The Institute is a multi-college unit conducting applied analysis at EWU. Institute staff and students have gathered the data, conducted statistical tests when applicable, written explanations & designed this site. The Institute has created several similar indicator websites, including those for Spokane County, Chelan and Douglas Counties, Benton and Franklin Counties, and Skagit County, among others. Links to other sites can be found here.
The Institute's Director is Dr. Patrick Jones. Dr. Kelley Cullen is the Institute's data analyst. Many students have helped develop and maintain content. Student research interns who were instrumental in creating this project were: were instrumental in creating this project were: Dorothy Bergland, Miranda Carmona, Angelica Cortes, Victoria Tyni, and Laura Velazquez. Jessica Phan was the student designer. Kandyce Moore is the Institute's web developer.