Look for local colleges and universities to reach out more to the private sector in the coming year for development projects, says David Dooley, president of the University of Rhode Island.
At least he expects that to happen at URI, where an on-campus research and technology park has been on the drawing boards for several years.
The plan to build a 30-acre facility to house corporations as well as spinoffs and other startups in close proximity to URI researchers has been on hold since Dooley was appointed in 2009 while the school studied its viability.
The market study is to be released in the near future, Dooley said, and the plan “is likely to resurface [in 2011], and there will be some energy behind it.”
He envisions opportunity for tech and software firms, biotech, pharmaceutical and energy companies.
But Dooley is talking about taking the partnership with business even further.
“Another [partnership] could be the co-development of space on the campus [in South Kingstown] for other uses, such as housing and retail,” he said.
In Providence, Dooley said, URI may look for opportunities for such partnerships with the private sector in expanding the school’s research and education space in the capital city.
He also foresees more cooperation between the local colleges and universities such as URI and Brown “on the research and the economic-development front.”
“Expect to see more activity and a larger scope of cooperation between the schools,” he said. •
