UMass Amherst Launches Economic Development Initiative

AMHERST — UMass Amherst announced 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 said. “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 Mass., 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 statewide focus;

• Identifying opportunities for university collaboration with industry, government, nonprofits, 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 startups 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.