The event represented a new partnership between UMass Boston, the National Alliance of Business, and the American Council on Education. Attendees agreed that the meetings helped to clarify both the demands on this workforce and the various roles that universities, employers, and other entities must play to prepare top-flight job candidates and successful employees. Helping Communities Develop With the help of a grant that enabled four doctoral students to become key staff members, the Center for Community Economic Development continued to address a wide range of economic development issues, through projects ranging from adult education and job training to an analysis of hiring practices to a closer look at demographic changes in Boston's neighborhoods. A team from UMass Boston's Public Policy Program also played an important role, conducting a mid-program evaluation that was instrumental in winning the extension grant. That effort entailed several dozen interviews with community and campus participants, and recommendations for re-focusing the project in its second year.
Faculty members continue to conduct research with ad direct impact on the private sector.
Economics Professor David Terkla, for example, completed a study on the importance of the manufacturing industry in Boston. His efforts dovetail with the work done by the College of Management's Greater Boston Manufacturing Parnership, directed by Jerry Rubin. With the meteoric rise of financial services, banking, real estate, and the service industry, manufacturing has become a forgotten component of the economy. Professor Terkla's research showed growth rates in certain Boston manufacturing categories rising at levels higher than national averages. The research spurred a dialogue among a panel of state, city industry leaders and community leaders convened at UMass Boston to explore ways to maintain a viable manufacturing sector.