Community Transformation--Do Land Grant

Universities still have a role?Karl Stauber, Ph. D.

Va TechSeptember 30, 2008

Community Transformation

• Concept of Parallel Universes– Prosperity– Subsistence– Survival

• LGUs were created to move people from Subsistence to Prosperity– Great Success

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Danville Regional Foundation

• Created in June 2005, DRF seeks to develop, promote, and support activities, programs, and organizations that improve the health, welfare, and education of the residents of the primary service areas of the hospital: Caswell County, NC, Pittsylvania County and the City of Danville, VA.

• About $200 million in assets; grants about $10 million per year.

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DRF Mission

• The Danville Regional Foundation is a catalyst for innovation and an agent for transformation. Understanding that significant community change takes time, the Foundation invests for the long term in efforts that promise sustained positive impact for the Dan River region. The Foundation is committed to development, promotion, and support of activities, programs, and organizations that address the health, education, and well-being of the region's residents.

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Danville Region

Two great Challenges• Create a New Economy

Old economy based on textiles and tobacco is largely gone.

• Create a New CultureOld culture was hierarchical and promoted passivity, under education, and a “mill town” view.

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DRF’s Theory of Change

• Change the conversation to focus on progress;• Almost simultaneously start to change who is

in the conversation to include the “excluded;”• Change the behavior of key players;• Then, and only then, change the outcomes for

individuals and the community.

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Major Challenges

• Under Education@1/3 people dropout, Va aver 1/5@ 11% BA/BS, Va aver 30%

• Poor HealthDeath due to cardio-vascular more than 2x Va

AverDiabetes—Danville is 3x Va aver

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Major Opportunities

• Economic SuccessRecruited over 7000 new jobs in 4 years

@ 50% are good wageGrowth of high tech firms in region like LunaWorks and NextGen Aeronautics, Inc.

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Major Opportunities

• Cultural ProgressGalileo HighIALRPositive Coverage in BBC, Wall St. Journal, and Washington Post

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Community Transformation

• Jane Jacobs’ Moral Syndromes Guardian CommercialShun Trading Shun ForceExert Power Agree VoluntarilyAdhere to Collaborate easily Tradition with OutsidersRespect Hierarchy Respect Contracts

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Guardian Commercial

Be Loyal CompeteBe exclusive Be IndustriousTreasure Honor Be Optimistic

• LGUs were created to promote the “Commercial Solution.”

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J. Jacobs +Guardian-Old

DominionCommercial-New

DominionPost-modern—

E-Dominion

Protect Privilege Promote Bounded Competition

Create New Competitive Advantage

Advantage based on Class

Advantage based on Work and Accomplishment

Advantage based on skill, connectivity, speed of innovation

Bound Labor Cheap Labor Skilled Labor

Physical Strength Repetitive Strength Intellectual Agility

Neighbors as Enemies

Neighbors as Competition

Neighbors as Partners or Irrelevant

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Higher Education institutions are one of the Keys to Transformation

Friedman--“A developed country’s competitiveness now comes primarily from its capacity to innovate… “innovation is now the only path to growth, prosperity, environmental sustainability and national security for America. But it is also an incredibly competitive world. Many information industries require that products be improved by 100 percent every 12 to 36 months, just for the company to stay in business.”

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Community Transformation

Freidman—” Our competitiveness…is based on having a broadly educated work force, superb research universities, innovation-supportive taxes, immigration and regulatory policies, a productive physical and virtual infrastructure, and a culture that embraces hard work and the creation of new opportunities.

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Community Transformation

Why Invest In Rural America and How?

• Communities and firms without competitiveadvantage will not prosper—they lapse intodecline or subsistence.

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Community Transformation

Why Invest in Rural America and How?

• Nations, communities, and firms that prosperconstantly invest in creating new competitiveadvantage rather than protecting old advantage.Risk-taking entrepreneurs are one of thekeys to the continual seeking.

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Community Transformation

Why Invest in Rural America and How?• Economic improvement and growth alone arenot enough to sustain communities. They arenecessary, but not sufficient. Communitiesthat survive and prosper also invest in buildingthe social and human capital of their institutionsand people. But communities with highsocial and human capital and declining economicopportunity are not likely to have positivefutures.

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Community Transformation

Public Research Universities are one of the keys to community transformation.

• How do you get knowledge to communities?• How do you make sure the knowledge is

actionable?• How do you get communities to see the

difference between Confidence and Certainty?• How do you reach the “agents of change” at the

community level?

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Community Transformation

• LGUs must customize the approach to each Customer.

• What is the “theory of change” for every department, program, faculty member?

• Communities/regions should be one of your key customers.

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Investment Approaches

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High CapacityCommunity

Low CapacityCommunity

Old Competitive Advantage

New CompetitiveAdvantage

New Products &Production Efficiency

Cluster Development ,Networking & Finance

Training, Infrastructure &Recruiting

Entrepreneurship, TA, &Bridge Finance

Culture Change ApproachesHow Communities Look:

Influencing theirDestiny

+++++

Inward Looking----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Outward Looking+++++

Victims of OthersActs

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Culture Change ApproachedHow Universities Look:

Knowledge of Field

+++++

Conceptual/ Theoretical----------------------------------------------------------Concrete/ Applied+++++

Knowledge of Community

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How does VT assist areas like Danville?

• Focus on Creating New Competitive Advantage, not protect Old.

• Build Community Capacity for New competitive Advantage.

• Intentionally Focus on Closing the Gaps.• Get Opportunities from the Lab to Locale

(targeted Communities) quickly.• Understand and support “mutuality.”

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Contact Info

Karl N. StauberPresident & CEODanville Regional Foundation103 S. Main St.Danville, VA 24541434-799-2176kstauber@danvilleregionalfoundation.org www.danvilleregionalfoundation.org

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