At this event, the Alliance for Excellent Education released findings from its groundbreaking analysis of regional economies and the significant economic contributions that additional high school graduates would make within their communities. The event featured projections for the forty-five largest metropolitan areas in the country on several key economic indicators—growth in jobs and gross regional product, increases in regional home and auto sales, and several others—all as the result of reducing the regional dropout rate for a single high school class by half. Featured speakers included Edward Rust, chairman and CEO of State Farm®, Alma Powell, chairwoman of America's Promise Alliance, and Tim Nadreau, Research Economist, Economic Modeling Specialists Inc.