EDA University Center Overview
Cornell’s EDA University Center is an innovative partnership which supports community and economic development programs. This partnership links technical innovation and business creation with entrepreneurs and businesses in economically distressed areas of New York State to launch new companies, help existing companies to become more competitive and create new higher paying jobs.
This re-designation of Cornell as an EDA University Center has strong leadership support from faculty and staff at Cornell, as well as, the University’s external partners from across the State. It is now widely acknowledged that research universities are economic development engines, especially with their growing emphasis on technology transfer. Through proactive tech transfer and technology-based venture creation, research universities are leveraging their resources for job creation. This job creation coupled with the Land Grant University’s cooperative extension infrastructure offers a powerful new approach to economic development in distressed communities. As the land-grant institution for New York State, Cornell has extension offices in all New York counties and in New York City. It is also one of the world’s top research universities with a vibrant program in technology transfer, business creation and commercialization.
The winter 2004 Economic Development America newsletter focused on university-based partnerships in Economic Development. This issue described the areas for universities to focus on in terms of economic development. According to David Sampson, three of these areas include: building strong research partnerships with industries; promoting technology transfer; and creating entrepreneurial ecosystems. This EDA University Center proposes to do that and more.
"America's research universities are uniquely positioned to play a pivotal role in advancing innovation and building regional competitiveness." - David A. Sampson, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development