CWU’s BCS wins Best Paper at international peer-reviewed conference

The Business and Community Services (BCS) team at Central Washington University received international recognition last month when its peer-reviewed research paper on the Regional Sustainability Gap Index (RSGI) earned the Best Paper Award at the Society for Advancement of Management’s International Business Conference.  

Founded in 1910, the Society for Advancement of Management (SAM) is among the oldest professional management associations in the world. The annual International Business Conference, held March 19-21 in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, is a longstanding peer-reviewed forum where scholars and practitioners present research focused on leadership, strategy, innovation, and real-world organizational impact.

The BCS study, titled “RGSI: A Measure of Regional Sustainability Through Human Capital,” discusses the importance of measuring economic growth in scale to deliver the most accurate assessment of how local economies are performing. Among the key findings is that just because economic growth is taking place in a particular area doesn’t mean it’s happening in a way that sustains opportunity for the people who live there.

As explained in an article on the SAM website, this disconnect lies at the center of the ongoing research by BCS Executive Director Rob Ogburn, Executive Director of IDEA Central Dr. Bill Provaznik, and former CWU Business Professor Coco Wu (who now works for Tennessee Technological University). The award-winning paper highlighted the work BCS has been doing for the past three years in seven Central Washington counties.

The SAM article goes on to say that the BCS team’s findings have introduced a new way of thinking about regional performance — one that focuses not just on how much an economy produces, but on whether it is creating a sustainable future. The RGSI framework helps illustrate what Ogburn, Provaznik, and Wu have demonstrated through their exhaustive research.

“Rather than relying on broad economic indicators, the index focuses on wages as a direct measure of opportunity,” the article explains. “It evaluates both where a region stands today and where it is headed, combining current wage levels with long-term wage growth trends to reveal whether communities are advancing or falling behind.”

The BCS model measures two crucial components: a region’s current position relative to its state’s economic frontier, which captures the reality of purchasing power and income potential; and whether that region is closing the gap or drifting further away over time. As Ogburn, Provaznik, and Wu have discovered through their work in Central Washington, these measures provide a clearer picture of long-term sustainability than traditional metrics can.

“What emerges from this approach is a more honest view of regional dynamics,” the article states. “Some areas that appear stable when measured by output or employment are, in reality, experiencing declining opportunity. Wages may be stagnant, growth may be slowing relative to stronger regions, and long-term prospects for residents may be narrowing.”

Another observation the BCS team makes in its paper is how practical the RGSI model is in evaluating a region’s performance. The index uses publicly available data and simple calculations, making it accessible to policymakers, regional planners, and community leaders. What’s more, it doesn’t require complex modeling to interpret. Instead, it provides a clear signal about whether a region is moving toward greater opportunity or further away from it.

“This clarity is important because it shifts the conversation,” the article explains. “Rather than focusing solely on growth, it encourages leaders to focus on sustainability. It asks whether current strategies are improving long-term outcomes for residents, not just producing short-term gains.”

The SAM Best Paper Award recognizes research that advances both theory and practice, and the judges commended the BCS team for advancing a method for evaluating a region’s current and future potential for sustainable economic growth.

“This work does exactly that by providing a tool that is both conceptually sound and immediately useful,” the judges noted in their review. “It challenges leaders to look beyond surface-level success and to focus on the deeper indicators that shape long-term prosperity.”