Knowledge Corridor

A study was conducted to compare and contrast the Hartford-Springfield area's competitiveness. The region has been dubbed "New England's Knowledge Corridor," in part because of its great concentration of higher educational institutions.

Description:

A team including CERC, the University of Connecticut and the University of Massachusetts jointly carried out a multifaceted analysis for a contiguous four-county region - two Massachusetts and two Connecticut. The area includes 28 institutions of higher learning and 100,000 full-time and part-time students.

The goal was to understand regional growth trends. Demographic and economic data were compared and contrasted among Massachusetts, Connecticut and the United States to get a sense of the region's competitiveness in multiple areas.

Issues:

This was a first for Connecticut - a cross-border initiative in which Connecticut worked jointly with a neighboring state to develop economic strategies for the region. It was necessary for three organizations - with their differing tools and perspectives - to work in concert in order to develop a richer analysis than if any one had performed the analysis alone.

Deliverables:

The team produced a groundbreaking report, "Knowledge Corridor: The Making of an Interstate Region," which was presented to the Hartford-Springfield Economic Steering Committee.

Outcomes:

This project is still a work in progress, although the analysis is finished and the report has been made. The results of the research will be used to inform and guide regional strategies for the next several years.

Please visit this web site for more information on the Knowledge Corridor.