Transcript Community Transformation--Do land grant >universities

Community Transformation--Do
Land Grant
Universities still have a role?
Karl Stauber, Ph. D.
Va Tech
September 30, 2008
Community Transformation
• Concept of Parallel Universes
– Prosperity
– Subsistence
– Survival
• LGUs were created to move people from
Subsistence to Prosperity– Great Success
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Danville Regional Foundation
• Created in June 2005, DRF seeks to develop,
promote, and support activities, programs,
and organizations that improve the health,
welfare, and education of the residents of the
primary service areas of the hospital: Caswell
County, NC, Pittsylvania County and the City of
Danville, VA.
• About $200 million in assets; grants about $10
million per year.
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DRF Mission
• The Danville Regional Foundation is a catalyst for
innovation and an agent for transformation.
Understanding that significant community change
takes time, the Foundation invests for the long
term in efforts that promise sustained positive
impact for the Dan River region. The Foundation
is committed to development, promotion, and
support of activities, programs, and organizations
that address the health, education, and wellbeing of the region's residents.
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Danville Region
Two great Challenges
• Create a New Economy
Old economy based on textiles and tobacco is
largely gone.
• Create a New Culture
Old culture was hierarchical and promoted
passivity, under education, and a “mill town”
view.
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DRF’s Theory of Change
• Change the conversation to focus on progress;
• Almost simultaneously start to change who is
in the conversation to include the “excluded;”
• Change the behavior of key players;
• Then, and only then, change the outcomes for
individuals and the community.
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Major Challenges
• Under Education
@1/3 people dropout, Va aver 1/5
@ 11% BA/BS, Va aver 30%
• Poor Health
Death due to cardio-vascular more than 2x Va
Aver
Diabetes—Danville is 3x Va aver
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Major Opportunities
• Economic Success
Recruited over 7000 new jobs in 4 years
@ 50% are good wage
Growth of high tech firms in region like
LunaWorks and NextGen Aeronautics, Inc.
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Major Opportunities
• Cultural Progress
Galileo High
IALR
Positive Coverage in BBC, Wall St. Journal, and
Washington Post
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Community Transformation
• Jane Jacobs’ Moral Syndromes
Guardian
Commercial
Shun Trading
Shun Force
Exert Power
Agree Voluntarily
Adhere to
Collaborate easily
Tradition
with Outsiders
Respect Hierarchy
Respect Contracts
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Guardian
Commercial
Be Loyal
Be exclusive
Treasure Honor
Compete
Be Industrious
Be Optimistic
• LGUs were created to promote the
“Commercial Solution.”
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J. Jacobs +
Guardian-Old
Dominion
Commercial-New
Dominion
Post-modern—
E-Dominion
Protect Privilege Promote Bounded
Competition
Create New Competitive
Advantage
Advantage based Advantage based on
on Class
Work and
Accomplishment
Bound Labor
Cheap Labor
Advantage based on skill,
connectivity, speed of
innovation
Skilled Labor
Physical Strength Repetitive Strength
Intellectual Agility
Neighbors as
Neighbors as Partners 12or
Neighbors as
Higher Education institutions are one
of the Keys to Transformation
Friedman--“A developed country’s competitiveness
now comes primarily from its capacity to
innovate… “innovation is now the only path to
growth, prosperity, environmental sustainability
and national security for America. But it is also an
incredibly competitive world. Many information
industries require that products be improved by
100 percent every 12 to 36 months, just for the
company to stay in business.”
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Community Transformation
Freidman—” Our competitiveness…is based on
having a broadly educated work force, superb
research universities, innovation-supportive
taxes, immigration and regulatory policies, a
productive physical and virtual infrastructure,
and a culture that embraces hard work and
the creation of new opportunities.
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Community Transformation
Why Invest In Rural America and How?
• Communities and firms without competitive
advantage will not prosper—they lapse into
decline or subsistence.
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Community Transformation
Why Invest in Rural America and How?
• Nations, communities, and firms that prosper
constantly invest in creating new competitive
advantage rather than protecting old advantage.
Risk-taking entrepreneurs are one of the
keys to the continual seeking.
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Community Transformation
Why Invest in Rural America and How?
• Economic improvement and growth alone are
not enough to sustain communities. They are
necessary, but not sufficient. Communities
that survive and prosper also invest in building
the social and human capital of their institutions
and people. But communities with high
social and human capital and declining economic
opportunity are not likely to have positive
futures.
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Community Transformation
Public Research Universities are one of the keys to
community transformation.
• How do you get knowledge to communities?
• How do you make sure the knowledge is
actionable?
• How do you get communities to see the
difference between Confidence and Certainty?
• How do you reach the “agents of change” at the
community level?
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Community Transformation
• LGUs must customize the approach to each
Customer.
• What is the “theory of change” for every
department, program, faculty member?
• Communities/regions should be one of your
key customers.
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Investment Approaches
Old Competitive
Advantage
New Competitive
Advantage
High Capacity
Community
New Products &
Production
Efficiency
Cluster
Development ,
Networking &
Finance
Low
Capacity
Community
Training, Infrastructure
&
Recruiting
Entrepreneurship,
TA, &
Bridge Finance
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Culture Change Approaches
How Communities Look:
Influencing their
Destiny
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Inward Looking----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Outward Looking
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Victims of Others
Acts
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Culture Change Approached
How Universities Look:
Knowledge of Field
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Conceptual/ Theoretical----------------------------------------------------------Concrete/ Applied
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Knowledge of Community
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How does VT assist areas like Danville?
• Focus on Creating New Competitive
Advantage, not protect Old.
• Build Community Capacity for New
competitive Advantage.
• Intentionally Focus on Closing the Gaps.
• Get Opportunities from the Lab to Locale
(targeted Communities) quickly.
• Understand and support “mutuality.”
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Contact Info
Karl N. Stauber
President & CEO
Danville Regional Foundation
103 S. Main St.
Danville, VA 24541
434-799-2176
[email protected]
www.danvilleregionalfoundation.org
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