Similar economic development has taken place in Mecklenburg County in the area known as University Park surrounding UNC-Charlotte. The strong relationship between town and gown is periodically underscored as economic and business professors from UNC-Greensboro are called in by the Greensboro Area Chamber of Commerce to give economic forecasts and interpret business trends and expectations. At one time higher education institutions were considered as cultural adornments at best. Today they are seen as critical to economic development. Colleges and universities have the intellectual resources, technology and research capability to positively influence economic development efforts.
Research is the engine that drives the marketplace, especially in high tech areas.
Venture capitalists do not shop if there are no ideas. So many of the new ideas are stimulated by college and university faculty, staff and students. For example, in Winston-Salem it is projected that 80 percent of marketable research in the area is done by Wake Forest University. Our colleges and universities have the personnel to conduct research, administer surveys and staff telephone banks. Language departments on the campuses of our colleges and universities teach not only the fundamentals of the language but also the cultural aspects of the language.