The future of Connecticut’s economy will be based on science, technology, engineering, and math.
By betting $1.8 billion on a STEM investment at UConn, Connecticut has committed its economic development to businesses and a workforce in these fields, believing those skill sets will grow the state’s historic industrial strengths to fulfill the projected needs of the next generation.
“When we look at the clusters that we see as a vital part of the economy, many of them are going to be reliant on the skills from STEM,” said Catherine Smith, commissioner of the state Department of Economic and Community Development. “This addresses the talent management and strategy that is so important for the economic development of the state.”
Connecticut’s current economic strengths lie in the aerospace, bioscience, health care, and advanced manufacturing clusters, Smith said. In the coming years, that will expand to include green technologies, Internet, digital production, and film and media.
The money from the $1.8 billion Next Generation Connecticut initiative will be spent building new facilities and renovating old facilities to accommodate an additional 6,580 new students and 259 new faculty at the UConn Storrs and Stamford campuses, along with moving the West Hartford campus to downtown Hartford.
“You need a lot of new space to do 21st century science,” UConn President Susan Herbst said. “It is a very big project.”
UConn turns down significant numbers of students now interested in STEM fields because the university lacks the laboratory, classroom, and housing space, Herbst said. Once complete, the upgrades will result in a 70 percent increase in undergraduate students and a 33 percent increase in science, technology, and math students.
“We are going to be a critical economic engine for the state,” Herbst said. “We supply engineers to the companies in Connecticut.”
UConn and Connecticut believe STEM was the best option for the state’s economic future because of its historic strengths in advanced manufacturing coupled with future indicators: STEM jobs from 2000-2010 grew three times faster than non-STEM jobs; 67 percent of GDP growth is driven by STEM innovations; and 20 percent of the STEM workforce is older than 55 and will need replacing.
Along with state initiatives such as Bioscience CT and Jackson Laboratory’s research park in Farmington, UConn sees strong demand for STEM graduates in the coming years.
“We want students to major in fields where they can be placed,” Herbst said.
Sue Palisano, director of education and workforce development for the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, said many businesses in the state are looking for STEM skills. And while it’s important to build STEM curriculum at colleges and universities, she said the state must also focus on K-12 education.
Unfortunately, Palisano said, CCAT isn’t seeing an increasing interest in STEM fields from K-12 students, who have ties to Connecticut and are more likely to stay here after college graduation.
“Most of our new workforce will come from our cities, and our urban youth really are our future,” Palisano said. “But at this point, we are not seeing the needle move on achievement in science and math, especially in urban youth.”
CCAT has an initiative to make Connecticut youth more excited about jobs in manufacturing, many of which include STEM skills. Still, for the state to really increase its STEM workforce, K-12 students need to increase their performance in the STEM curriculum, Palisano said.
“All these things the state is doing are a great start. It is the state recognizing that our future lies in those areas,” Palisano said. “This needs to expand into the K-12 world.”
Ultimately, building an economy around these skill sets will increase the interest in STEM fields, Smith said, and help Connecticut graduates realize the opportunities available in the state.
“We also see us keeping more of the students that graduate from here. The jobs they are looking for are the jobs the state has to offer,” Smith said. “Immediately, we are going to see the impact of more undergraduates coming out of this new initiative.”
In addition to a well-trained workforce, UConn predicts the Next Generation initiative will have several other ancillary impacts over the next 10 years.
For example, with new laboratory and research equipment, UConn researchers can compete for National Institutes of Health grants for brain science, Herbst said.
“That is equipment we can buy thanks to this program,” Herbst said.
UConn predicts every $1 invested in new research for the entire project will yield $1.95 in new business activity.
All totaled, UConn believes the entire economic impact by 2024 — on top of the workforce development — will include 30,000 construction jobs, 2,190 permanent jobs, $146 million in research awards, $285 million in new business activity, and 135 new patents and disclosures annually.
“It is a transformational investment from the state,” Herbst said. “There’s no question this is going to make the university a top place for STEM.”
