Follow this link to sign up: ED+Ed: Partnering to Bridge the Gap

IEDC and the University Economic Development Association (UEDA) are excited to announce a brand new workshop on effective collaboration between economic development and higher education institutions. The workshop, ED+Ed: Partnering to Bridge the Gap, will be in Anchorage, Alaska, on Thursday, October 1, 2015, and is held in conjunction with both associations’ annual conferences.

Economic development organizations (EDOs) and institutes of higher learning work on many of the same pressing problems, yet their efforts are sometimes uncoordinated. Whether setting up entrepreneurial ecosystems or supporting the creation of advanced manufacturing clusters, these organizations must partner for initiatives to be most successful. 

Workshop participants will meet university, college, state, and local officials who are successfully bridging theED-ed gap to win grants and undertake innovative projects in four of the most urgent and important spaces for collaborative effort: assisting entrepreneurs, offering relevant workforce training, leveraging assets, and conducting research to grow high-tech manufacturing.

Panelists will lead participants in breakout discussions on lessons learned and discuss actionable emerging mechanisms for greater higher ed/EDO collaboration. Topics and expert speakers include:

Research and Advanced Manufacturing 

Charles Hayes, CEcD, President & CEO, Research Triangle Regional Partnership, Cary, NC 

John Provo, Director, Economic Development, Virginia Tech Office of Economic Development, Blacksburg, VA 

Charles Shoopman, Jr., Assistant Vice President, University of Tennessee Institute for Public Service, Knoxville, TN 

Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development 

Lea Glembot, Vice President of Economic Development and Marketing, Lehigh Valley Economic Developement Corp., Bethlehem, PA 

Mark Lange, Executive Director, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, University of Wisconsin Extension, Madison, WI 

William Michalerya, Associate Vice President, Government Relations & Economic Development, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA 

Lyneir Richardson, Executive Director, Center for Urban Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, Rutgers Business School, Newark, NJ 

Anne Roise, MCP, CEcD, Instructor, Savannah State University, Savannah, GA 

Workforce Development 

Helen Cauthen, President, Central Virginia Partnership for Economic Development, Charlottesville, VA 

Ray Laughter, Vice Chancellor for External Affairs, Lone Star College System, The Woodlands, TX 

Leveraging Institutional Assets 

Christi Bell, CEcD, Associate Vice Provost & Executive Director, University of Alaska Anchorage Business Enterprise Institute, Anchorage, AK 

Registration for ED+Ed: Partnering to Bridge the Gap is $175. Registrants attending either the IEDC Annual Conference or the UEDA Annual Conference will save $50 off their workshop fee.