Brooklyn's Progress
December 2002

By Roberta Weisbrod, Co-chair, Economic Development Committee

Brooklyn as a college town means more business opportunities and a better quality of life.   On Monday, October 28, the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Development Committee hosted a breakfast meeting about College and University-based economic development at which three college presidents spoke: David Chang, Polytechnic University; Frank Macchiorola, St. Francis College and Byron McClenney, Kingsborough Community College. Representatives from the fields of economic development and urban planning as well as leaders from Brooklyn- based institutions of higher learning, including Brooklyn Law School and New York City Technical College, and members of the committee were in attendance.

Buzz. With  dormitory construction will come a critical mass of residential students, giving downtown Brooklyn the potential for a 24/7 buzz of  both night life and street life.   Smart entrepreneurs have to figure out the right mix of retail and entertainment to attract students and nearby residents.   Polytechnic University (Poly) has built a 400-student dorm, with long-term housing planned for 900.  Brooklyn Law School will begin construction of housing for 370 students, adding to the 140 students already housed locally.  The students add to the downtown dynamism in the nine months that they are there, but the presence of housing, especially at Poly, will allow the University to think about programming for the summer as well.  St. Francis is not planning residential housing but it continues to improve the quality of the school and it is functioning as a good neighbor within the community, building higher (i.e., vertically) and better, on existing footprints. For downtown Brooklyn to gain momentum, not just a critical mass of students is needed, however. Affordable housing for both faculty and staff of the local universities would help the mix as well. Dr. Chang indicated that Polytechnic is only as good as the community it serves, and Poly definitely delivers a positive impact on its community, from the federally-funded research centers it operates, to the high percentage of minority and women enterprises that participated in its capital construction projects, to its incubator funded for startups by federal funds secured by Congressman Ed Towns.

Boost. Colorado, with the nation's highest level of educational attainment and greatest growth of high tech business, is illustrative of how colleges and universities stimulate economic development and can affect the quality of life.   Presidents McClenney and Chang, both coming from Colorado, consciously act on the Colorado model, addressing both how to raise the level of educational attainment and how to maximize our high tech capabilities.  President McClenney spoke about the need for remediation -- only 50 percent of Brooklyn 9th graders ultimately graduate high school and of those that do, only 63 percent enter college.  At Kingsborough, the largest community college in Brooklyn, 87 percent require remediation.  While long-term efforts are needed to truly raise the level of educational attainment, Kingsborough does offer short-term training -- including, off-campus, at the business' site.  In particular, KCC is focused on training for health care workers -- a strategic focus since over half of Brooklyn's 500 plus employers are medical providers. Dr. McClenney sees Kingsborough as part of a borough-wide partnership, collaborating with other not-for-profits as well as community-based organizations in an effort to sustain long-term development as well as attract major employers to the borough.  Another strategic focus is Brooklyn tourism and Kingsborough’s Tourism Department has been collaborating with the Office of Borough President Marty Markowitz on this initiative.

Polytechnic, also a strong advocate for partnerships, is collaborating with Downstate Medical Center in Biomedical Engineering programming, offering a joint degree in a " here and now" business, in a center that serves as a focus for university-based entrepreneurship.  Poly houses one of the state's 14 Centers for Excellence in telecommunication and software innovation; has an “incubator” program incubating for companies that take longer to mature; and is currently moving into the urban security technology arena.

The college presidents discussed their collaboration with other Brooklyn institutions of higher education, impressing the attendees of how effectively they pool their resources. Participants at the meeting clearly had their appetites whetted for more, anticipating a larger meeting on the subject in the not-too-distant future, inclusive of all of Brooklyn’s college presidents.   As Stuart Leffler co-chair of the committee, points out, branding Brooklyn as a college town has been effective in stimulating collaboration among the colleges and universities, with businesses and the community, and with government.