Randy Boyd, Guest columnist
As Tennessee marks Economic Development Week and the 100th anniversary of the International Economic Development Council (IEDC), we’re celebrating 100 years of work by the University of Tennessee to help communities grow, attract investment and create opportunities across our state.
Let me show you by taking a journey through Tennessee.
We start at city hall or the county courthouse, where decisions shape how communities attract investment and serve residents. Through the UT Institute for Public Service (IPS), we help local governments do this work every day, from planning industrial parks and housing to supporting economic development strategy.
The UT Center for Industrial Services (UT CIS), an agency under IPS, partners with IEDC to train economic developers, including 156 who have earned Tennessee’s certified designation. Great local leadership means stronger local economies. Go further and you pass an industrial park or manufacturing facility. UT CIS works with manufacturers across Tennessee to strengthen operations, helping companies stay competitive, grow and remain in the state.
Tennessee campuses propel their communities forward
Now let’s go to the innovation side of the economy, where Tennessee has advantages. For decades, UT and Oak Ridge National Laboratory have worked together to show companies why Tennessee is a strong place to invest: research strength, engineering talent, and partnerships that connect research and industry. This work has helped bring major investment to Tennessee, including Volkswagen in Chattanooga, and continues today through the Volkswagen Innovation Hub at UT Research Park, where university researchers, national lab scientists and industry work together to improve how vehicles are built. Also in Chattanooga, innovation plays out on the streets themselves. UT Chattanooga works with the city and industry on projects that use data to improve traffic flow and safety. This brings investment, making Chattanooga a place where companies test and improve mobility and transportation technologies.
UT helps drive innovation to the marketplace
Innovation must move from the lab to the marketplace, and the UT Research Foundation makes that happen. It recently launched UT Ventures, a network that connects investors who are UT alumni with UT-related startups. And at UT Southern, the NOVA Entrepreneur Center in Pulaski connects students and community entrepreneurs in rural Middle Tennessee with the resources they need to turn ideas into businesses and jobs.
Keep going and you reach a hospital, clinic or hometown pharmacy. Companies looking to expand or move want to know people can access health care. The UT Health Science Center trains our state’s health care professionals, keeping care close to home and Tennesseans healthy.
Go further and you arrive at a farm, where UT has been serving producers for generations. Agriculture is Tennessee’s top industry, and the UT Institute of Agriculture serves farmers in all 95 counties. We help farmers earn more than $5.2 billion each year, but the real value is personal: helping families keep land in production and income on the farm. Beyond crops and livestock, UT also supports Tennessee’s forestry and nursery industries, which together account for 91,400 jobs statewide.
Finally, step onto any of our campuses in Knoxville, Chattanooga, Pulaski, Martin or Memphis. Nearly 65,000 students are enrolled across the UT System, and the university produces more than 15,000 graduates every year. These are Tennessee’s future health care professionals, engineers, teachers, farmers, entrepreneurs and economic developers.
Building the greatest decade in the history of UT means strengthening economic development across Tennessee. Let’s keep that work going for the rest of this decade and into the next 100 years.
This article originally appeared at knoxnews.com