Chicago Heights, IL-(ENEWSPF)- Regional development efforts received a major boost last week as the leaders of the area’s universities and community colleges came together with local economic development leaders to discuss how to collaborate more fully on regional development issues. The twelve universities and community colleges, who comprise the 21-year old South Metropolitan Higher Education Consortium (SMHEC), convened at Moraine Valley Community College to hear the economic development leaders from the Chicago Southland discuss their visions for the region and ways in which the groups could work together to enhance outcomes. Reggie Greenwood, director of the Chicago Southland Economic Development Corporation; John Greuling, president and chief executive office of the Will County Center for Economic Development; David Hinderliter, president and chief executive officer of the Chicago Southland Chamber of Commerce; and Mike Van Mill, president and chief executive officer, Economic Alliance of Kankakee County, provided insights into the region’s issues and potential opportunities for higher education to help create solutions. Ideas included branding the area to change its image and unite the region, supporting the vast manufacturing and transportation assets in the area, and supporting local, innovative, small businesses High potential infrastructure improvements – the Illiana Expressway and the 3rd airport- were seen as opportunities to enhance and leverage the region.
Frank Beal, executive director of Metropolis Strategies, an organization established by the Commercial Club of Chicago in 1999 to maintain and enhance the economic competitiveness of the Chicago region, addressed the Chicago metropolitan area’s slipping economic vigor and the need for initiatives spanning local boundaries. Discussion was facilitated by Ed Morrison of Purdue University’s Center for Regional Development, whose career has been spent helping regions successfully address formidable economic hurdles. His network-based models for economic development have been adopted by practitioners throughout the country, and Morrison has personally worked with notable successes in Indiana, Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Oklahoma City. Morrison’s experiences and perspectives from numerous initiatives in which higher education was prominently involved provided important insights for the group.
Dr. Carmel Ruffolo, Ph.D., the director of corporate engagement and regional development for both the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, spoke about the many ways in which those schools have worked with other southeast Wisconsin post-secondary institution’s efforts in transforming of their regions. The consortium of schools, including Marquette University, Milwaukee School of Engineering, and Gateway College, have many of their own initiatives which are integral to successful shared initiatives such as BizStarts Milwaukee (entrepreneurship and innovation), the Water Council (international model for industry cluster support), and the Wisconsin Center for Commercialization Resources (tech transfer and access to university resources). Dr. Ruffolo also spoke of collaborative opportunities for higher education in the broader region spanning the area from Milwaukee to northwest Indiana. This tri-state area, subject of an unprecedented OECD study in 2011 sponsored by the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and the US Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration is seen as a high-potential mega-region if cooperation and coordination issues can be overcome.
Members of South Metropolitan Higher Education Consortium (SMHEC) are: DeVry University, Governors State University, Illinois Institute of Technology, Joliet Junior College, Kankakee Community College, Lewis University, Moraine Valley Community College, Northwestern College, Prairie State College, Saint Xavier University, South Suburban College, and University of St. Francis.
