Universities connecting with industry Sunday, February 12, 2006 Under new leadership, the University of North Carolina is moving aggressively to form a new partnerships with industry. These ambitious plans, however, carry a relatively heavy price tag. Read more. The UNC strategy reflects a broader trend that colleges and universities are moving into the center of economic development. Last week, UNC Charlotte opened a new center on bioinformatices. Read more. Investing in university research forms one pillar of Governor Rendell's strategy in Pennsylvania. Read more. Last week, the University of Texas at San Antonio launched a million-dollar research facility in biotechnology sciences and engineering. The hope is that this research facility will attract private investment. Read more. Meanwhile, in New York, the University of Buffalo has created a strategic alliance with Pfizer. Read more. Unfortunately, many state legislators still do not understand the emerging imperative to invest in higher education. So, for example, many states are leveling off or cutting back on these investments. Indeed, many Op-Ed articles appeared last week outlining how investments in higher education matter to economic development. Here's an example from Virginia: Other Voices: Virginia students - sink or swim. Here's an article from Michigan: 'U' taking the lead in developing a bioeconomy. Here's a column from California: Creative Clusters and the Urban Economy. Here's commentary from Florida: Accelerate growth of innovation economy. Here's a view from Vermont: Scholarship program investment in future. posted by Ed Morrison |		This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. links Some Background on EDPro Weblog The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it. One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information. So, spread the word...Share the knowledge. Tell a friend about EDPro Weblog. If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site: Here's the link if you are a bloglines subscriber: Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking. Background on Ed Morrison Download some background information on me here.

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