UMass Amherst Chancellor Robert Holub Will Discuss State of Springfield-Hartford Economy at May 29 Conference
May 27, 2009
| Contact: | Janet Lathrop 413/545-0444 |
AMHERST, Mass. – “Navigating Times of Economic Peril” is the theme of the 8th annual Hartford-Springfield Economic Partnership’s State of the Region Conference to be held at La Renaissance from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Friday, May 29 in East Windsor, Conn. Registration, pre-conference networking and a light breakfast will begin at 7:45 a.m. Online registration is at www.HartfordSpringfield.com
Leaders of the region’s two land-grant universities, University of Massachusetts Amherst Chancellor Robert Holub and University of Connecticut Storrs Provost Peter Nicholls, will take the lead in a panel discussion on how universities can help stimulate the region’s business competitiveness and foster a climate of innovation by sharing knowledge, discoveries, enthusiasm and expertise.
The conference keynote speaker will be Stephen Moore, an editorial board member and senior economics writer for The Wall Street Journal. In a recent column on how states should navigate in times of economic peril, Moore suggests it is economically short-sighted to raise taxes on the highest earners to stem budget deficits. Instead, he and a co-author argue, states should foster a business-friendly, low-tax environment to attract new investors, jobs and avoid penalizing economic success.
Chancellor Holub will share his vision for how UMass Amherst, the region’s premier research university, with its Pioneer Valley Life Sciences Institute, its initiative to encourage innovation in the precision manufacturing industry and another to enhance opportunities in nursing education, continues to contribute substantially to economic development while collaborating in science and research innovation with UConn. Holub will also highlight recent efforts of the Greater Springfield-University of Massachusetts Amherst Partnership, initiated in 2008 to promote collaborations aimed at revitalizing Springfield’s economy.
In particular, the UMass Amherst campus is extremely well positioned to help Springfield become a regional center of green, energy-efficient industry and manufacturing. It does so by example, with an award-winning combined heat and power plant, by offering a new green building master’s degree and through spinoff green energy businesses such as Qteros and Anellotech, both based on original biofuels research at UMass Amherst. Qteros uses a microbe from the Quabbin Reservoir to convert biomass into ethanol, while Anellotech, just getting off the ground, uses a catalyst to convert biomass into green gasoline components in a fast and efficient single step.
The Hartford-Springfield Economic Partnership’s conference is expected to draw hundreds of business and professional people interested in these leaders’ views on how to nurture economic development and stimulate growth, even during difficult periods.
Only 25 miles apart, Springfield and Hartford encompass the second-largest population, economic and education center in New England. Organizers believe the region’s Knowledge Corridor, as it is known, is well positioned to become an economic leader while maintaining a sought-after quality of life for residents and a pool of highly skilled workers for industry and business. The Hartford-Springfield Corridor is home to 26 higher education institutions with 110,000 students.
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