In part one of a two-part series on growth prospects of the Inland Empire, Prof. Manfred Keil and Robert Kleinhenz of the Inland Empire Economic Partnership wrote: “The Inland Empire is among the nation’s largest based on absolute measures such as population and GDP, but it ranks in the bottom third in terms of the economic well-being of its residents as measured by income per capita. … Now is the time to develop long run goals and associated strategies for the region to move up the economic ladder and improve the well-being of its residents.”