By Joyce Kryszak
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wbfo/local-wbfo-615451.mp3
Buffalo, NY – The University at Buffalo is enlisting some powerful allies in its mission to grow UB into a powerful economic engine for the region. The university Tuesday kicked-off its "UB Believers" campaign, a coalition of business and community leaders committed to promoting UB.
The campaign video paints a powerful imagine of optimism. Children playing in Delaware Park with endless smiles under sunny, blue skies. They gaze up, envisioning a future every bit as bright.
That's the image UB wants its "Believers," its advocates, to create for the university to build on.
The university plans to nearly double its impact on the local economy by the year 2020. That would bring its contribution to the local economy to a staggering $2.6 billion each year. UB President John Simpson said that growth is dependent upon spreading the good word about the university to attract new students and research.
Some of the most prominent members of the community are being asked to carry that banner. The kick-off event at the Center for BioInformatics in Buffalo was a who's who of Western New York's leading businesses and organizations.
Marsha Henderson is UB Vice President for External Affairs. She made an impassioned call-to-action to recruit members of the community to become supporters of the initiative.
About 100 people have already agreed to champion the university's growth efforts. And they go armed with some strong statistics to sell the message.
According to a study by the UB Regional Institute, the university is projected to hit its economic goals by 2020, spurring new businesses and creating roughly twenty thousand jobs beyond university walls.
David Barthel is president of Smart Pill. The medical diagnostic technology was developed at UB. And Barthel said he is demonstrating his belief in the region by bringing the company home from its current facility in California.
There are other wins that UB officials said are worth touting. They include businesses, such as ATTO Technology to nonprofit partnerships, such as the one that help build Carolyn's House for the homeless women and children.
Kathleen Granchelli is Chief Executive Officer of the YWCA of Niagara County. She said it is the project everyone, except for UB, said couldn't be done.
Fellow educators were also singing UB's praises. Geraldine Horton is Principal of East High School in Buffalo. She said UB's investment in high school students will pay real dividends in the future when those students choose to stay in the region, filling emerging jobs in technology.
But the initiative is intended to do more than garner praise for UB, or be a feel good activity.
The university hopes its group of advocates will create a surge of support -and bring pressure on state policy makers to make the changes needed for the university to prosper. UB President Simpson said growing universities must be allowed to diversify their support.
Simpson said, if successful, the university's growth would benefit the entire region, and provide a brighter future for the generation represented in the UB Believers' campaign video. More information about the UB Believers initiative is available at the UB web site.
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