Universities: the Ideal Launching Pads for Entrepreneurs
GREG KAHN
JUL 22, 2023
Designed in Midjourney
I crossed one of those major life milestones last weekend: we took our daughter on a college tour.
The Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island campus greens offered a nice break from the New York-area heatwave and flooding rain. I thought of my own college days and what prepared me (and what didn’t prepare me) for the world of 2023.
Aside from the excitement of exploring potential schools and our hopes for our daughter, I found myself pondering a crucial question about the future of education and economic growth in our country. As a STEM-focused student interested in computer science, our daughter’s college tour gave me a chance to witness the various approaches universities are taking towards technology and sustainability.
The experience forced me to consider the untapped potential for universities and cities to become better partners in fostering thriving tech and business hubs. This is by no means universal, but for too long, college towns have maintained a distant relationship with their municipal surroundings. It’s a distance worth bridging. And it’s not the only one.
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Urban studies
While homecomings represent a lifetime of ties between students and the schools that helped form their careers and lives, a distance forms almost immediately among graduates and universities from the moment a student is handed a diploma. It’s a natural progression. But it doesn’t have to be that way for everyone.
Beyond being centers of education, these institutions possess a wealth of talent, researchers, and resources that could be harnessed to spur economic growth and innovation in the surrounding areas.
The idea hit me in various degrees at all the places we visited. But I was particularly inspired by the 222-year-old Amherst College. Administrators began actively decarbonizing the campus last spring.
That move alone exemplifies the prospects for universities to lead by example in sustainability efforts. Such initiatives not only benefit the institutions, but also present opportunities for businesses to emerge around these campuses. The chance to tap into the pool of bright minds, instructors, and researchers who could become valuable contributors to startups and ventures seems so obvious.
This kind symbiotic relationship exists in some of the most celebrated universities and their home cities. It’s particularly evident in the surrounding areas of schools like MIT in Cambridge, and Stanford, which even bills itself as being “in the heart of Silicon Valley.” Is it possible to export these municipal-university alliance models to other cities?
We’ll soon find out.
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The feds step in
In May, the Commerce Department launched an application process for cities to receive a total of $500 million in grants to become technology hubs.
The $500 million is part of a $10 billion authorization from last year’s CHIPS and Science Act to stimulate investments in new technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing and biotech. It’s an attempt to expand tech investment that is largely concentrated around a few U.S. cities — Austin, Texas; Boston; New York; San Francisco; and Seattle — to the rest of the country.
A number of big college names in small college towns would serve as ideal models for how this kind of government sponsorship can pay dividends the locales as well as taxpayers. Places like University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, have the talent and infrastructure that could be truly unleashed with such strategic partnerships and federal support. By fostering tech and business development around these institutions, we can create a more diverse and resilient economy, drawing upon the unique expertise and academic resources available.
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Shaping the future of cities and higher education
The critical role technology plays in the evolving landscape of education is obvious. Universities incorporating AI, robotics labs, and interdisciplinary programs are better preparing students for the changing job market and technological advancements — and those benefits should also lift up these college towns, their workforces, and the regional economic base.
According to a report from Brookings Metro, a 10% increase in the scientific population is, on average, associated with a 0.11% increase in total costs and a 0.67% increase in patent creation.
The report, which looked at 133 college towns between 2010 and 2015, spells it further: firms moving from cities with a small population of scientists to cities with a large population of scientists might expect to experience productivity gains up to six times larger than the increase in production costs.
Beyond the stats, the observable success stories of cities like Pittsburgh and Boston, which revitalized their economies by embracing technology around their university systems, serve as powerful examples. By nurturing the connection between education and economic growth, cities like New Haven, which house esteemed institutions like Yale, can leverage the immense potential of their academic assets to build thriving tech and business ecosystems.
Take a closer look at how Carnegie Mellon University has actively worked to rebuild Pittsburgh as a home for tech entrepreneurs. CMU’s focus on attracting and retaining startups has created student-led ventures, which have contributed to a thriving startup culture, fostering job creation and economic diversification.
As we witness the rise of hybrid working models and the need for innovative solutions in a rapidly evolving world, the time is ripe for universities and cities to strengthen their bonds. Embracing a new mindset that views campuses as centers of innovation and economic activity, rather than isolated entities, can lead to transformative change in our education system and local economies.
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Greg Kahn
GK Digital Ventures
Greg Kahn is a catalytic force in the technology, media and entertainment industries, renowned for connecting innovators with investors, growing brands and driving billions of dollars in transactional deals. Learn More >
