Page 26 - BusinessWest May 30, 2022

1970s office life, the project was just one of many groundbreaking concepts the institute would help launch.
Another early assignment that would shape the future of the institute involved improving floor operations at the General Motors assem- bly plant in Framingham. However, while the project was underway, the plant began laying
off shifts — but UMDI was already there as an implant that was well-positioned to lend a hand. Shifting focus, the institute helped the newly dis- located workers create resumes, get additional education, and ultimately find jobs or even start businesses of their own. Through this fortuitous timing, the institute quickly became the larg-
est services provider to dislocated workers in the Commonwealth.
The federal government’s Department of Defense would then present the institute with an opportunity to help make systems uniform across military branches. This project allowed UMDI to develop the national credibility to successfully bid on the Head Start program, one of its core initia- tives to this day.
From there, former Massachusetts Governor William Weld asked the UMass President’s Office to assist with an economic development initiative for the state. With the help of economic experts from across the UMass campus, UMDI worked with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston to forge the MassBenchmarks project. To this day, Mass- Benchmarks assesses the Massachusetts econo- my through reports and analyses that it then pro- duces and releases twice per year in journal form.
These early projects laid the groundwork for UMDI to get approved as a vendor by the fed- eral government’s General Services Administra-
tion (GSA). This designation allows the institute to bypass the lengthy bidding process usually required to win large federal contracts.
Indeed, the institute’s keen eye for evaluating opportunities and strategically selecting those that will open doors has built the solid foundation it now stands on.
Today, the Donahue Institute is comprised
of 10 business units. However, despite the ever- growing diversification of its core capabilities, a vibrant and robust research component remains at the backbone. This includes both UMDI’s
From left, former director of the Donahue Institute Eric Heller, former deputy director John Klenakis, former director Lynn Griesemer, Director
Johan Uvin, and Associate Director Carol Anne McGowan
Applied Research and Program Evaluation unit and its Economic and Public Policy Research group, led by Melnik.
This group operates as a project-oriented consulting firm, much like a think tank, bringing academic expertise and methods to real-world social problems. The group works with demo- graphic, labor market, and economic data to help state and municipal governments, planning agen- cies, and nonprofits guide broad public policy discussions.
One current project examines how to leverage
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