State governments across the nation are engaging community colleges as cornerstones of their comprehensive economic development strategies. This executive summary summarizes the efforts of 10 states, recommended by national experts, to deploy community colleges in support of state economic development priorities. The 10 states are: Florida, Mississippi, Georgia, North Carolina, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Iowa, South Carolina, Michigan and Washington. The states profiled in this study use a variety of programs to deploy community colleges to provide substantial contributions to state economic development goals. State governments have created programs involving community colleges that raise the skill levels of all workers, provide training and other benefits to particular firms, and offer broad-based support to important sectors of the economy. While these programs take different forms, all share similar elements. The need for strong leadership, coordination, and partnerships among stakeholders, as well as access to ongoing funding was a consistent theme in interviews with state and local officials. In addition, all states profiled have focused their efforts on key industry clusters. [For the full report, "Deploying Community Colleges to Strengthen State Economic Development: A National Study," see ED535267.]