UMass Amherst Launches Economic Development Initiative

Source: UMass News & Media

UMass Amherst announced on August 26, the launch of an Economic Development Initiative to leverage the full breadth of the university’s expertise, talent, innovation and partnerships to spur job creation, entrepreneurship and community revitalization, as well as workforce and small business development locally, regionally, and across the state. 

“As the state’s flagship, public university, UMass Amherst has a responsibility to serve as a catalyst for economic development at the local, regional and statewide levels,” Chancellor Javier Reyes told a crowd of business leaders, state and local government officials, college presidents, UMass leadership,  and community members on campus at the university’s annual Community Breakfast in the Student Union. “Embracing this responsibility creates important opportunities for programming, analysis and collaboration that can foster more inclusive, resilient and innovation-driven growth across the commonwealth.” 

As one of the largest employers in western Massachusetts, the university already has a $2.9 billion direct and indirect impact on the state’s economy, and year-round campus activity contributes millions of dollars to the local economy in wages, taxes and spending. The spending of UMass Amherst and its employees and students helps to generate an additional 13,000 jobs in the commonwealth. The university aims to do more to attract more people to the UMass ecosystem and empower existing companies to become more competitive, and spur economic growth through workforce development and new startups and enterprises. 

Guided by an executive committee consisting of senior campus leadership, the initiative’s principal goals include: 

• Collaborating with communities to address challenges and opportunities around housing, healthcare, transportation and services to overall infrastructure.
  
• Advising university leadership on strategies, partnerships and investments that expand economic development impact with local, regional and state-wide focus;
  
• Identifying opportunities for university collaboration with industry, government, non-profits and community organizations.
  
• Providing input on and supporting the growth of university initiatives encouraging workforce development, entrepreneurship, innovation, and applied and translational research;
  
• Offering recommendations on policies, programs and practices that promote resilient, innovative and inclusive economic growth;
  
• Driving investment to the region and across the commonwealth;
  
• Supporting strategic initiatives critical to the commonwealth’s future;
  
• Creating talent pipelines for study, internships and employment for the region and the state; and
  
• Cultivating research capacity with economic development priorities. 

This initiative will capitalize on work already underway at the university. For example, the Institute for Applied Life Sciences (IALS) translates fundamental research into innovative product candidates, technologies and services that deliver benefits to human health and well-being. 

Several area start-ups incubated at UMass include: Myrias Optics, which is developing next-generation photonic and optical technologies with the potential to transform communications and sensing; and Elateq, now based at its own Northampton facility where it has room to grow while continuing to advance cleaner, greener water purification technologies.  

UMass has worked recently to strengthen the university’s presence in the gateway cities of Springfield and Holyoke, with its Henry M. Thomas III Center serving as the hub of the university’s efforts. Last spring, the university opened “UMass Downtown” in Amherst to increase the university’s presence in the community and make it easier for our neighbors to engage with the university.  As of July, UMass Downtown has welcomed more than 5,600 visitors and hosted 36 events and programs with engagement from 486 attendees.  

This initiative is an offshoot of the university’s 10-year Strategic Plan which focuses on educating, innovating, engaging, connecting and stewarding for the common good to advance boundaries of creating and using knowledge, leading the way toward a just and sustainable future for all.