FROED One Government Center Fall River, MA 02722-7700 Tel 508-324-2620 Fax 508-677-2840 info@froed.org		DANGER TO THE REGION IF WE LOSE THE STAR STORE, ATMC The Herald News, Thursday, June 18, 2009 - Page B3 Two critical SouthCoast economic assets - the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth College of Visual and Performing Arts at the Star Store in New Bedford and the Advanced Technology Manufacturing Center in Fall River - are at risk, and the region’s civic and business community needs to stand up and take notice before it is too late. It appears that the Legislature is on the verge of eliminating funding for both facilities - about $4.5 million. The final determination will be made in the coming days by House and Senate negotiators. The House included funding in its version of the budget, but the Senate did not. A budget conference committee will resolve the matter and our legislative delegation is working hard on the issue. If the money is not restored, our region will lose much more than $4.5 million. It will severely weaken and possibly eliminate two powerful economic stimulants in our urban centers at the worst possible time. UMass Dartmouth Chancellor Jean MacCormack is simply too classy and savvy to whine about state budget cuts. She is a 30-year veteran of public higher education in Massachusetts who has managed through many financial crises in a state that chronically underfunds public higher education even during the good times. We have no doubt that she will do everything in her power, against very difficult odds, to preserve quality and access at the university as well as sustain UMD’s very real commitment to be fully committed to the regional community. But she cannot be the only champion for this cause and we are very concerned that the university - already faced with severe budget cuts and with a very dramatic funding cliff coming in fiscal 2011 when federal stimulus funds end - will have no choice but to dramatically downsize or even close both operations if the commonwealth steps back from its commitment. We strongly urge the governor and Legislature to view these projects as regional economic development initiatives rather than simply university programs. These projects are proven examples of real economic stimulus - relatively small public investments that generate enormous tangible private gain. First the CVPA. A decade ago the former Star Store, a four-story building in the heart of downtown New Bedford, was a hollow shell, an ugly symbol of a distressed community. Community leaders, legislators, university officials and ultimately a governor got together to take bold action. That action was the renovation of the Star Store into the UMass Dartmouth College of Visual and Performing Arts. Under the plan, the university agreed to move a major portion of an important academic program from its core campus to downtown New Bedford. Private developers, backed by state-sponsored bonds, built a first-rate arts facility that generates thousands of downtown visits by people taking classes, working in the building or simply viewing the art work on display in the galleries. Opened in September 2001, this one project has ignited more than $80 million of additional private investment in the surrounding city blocks: housing, restaurants and retail stores. More than half a million square feet of commercial space has been redeveloped. That is more than one-third of the commercial space available in downtown. A 2008 study by the New Bedford Economic Development Council concluded that the “creative economy is not an incidental contributor to the city but a significant generator for economic growth,’’ and both private investors and city officials know that the CVPA has been the catalyst for that growth. The ATMC has had a similar impact. Many people still remember the blaze that leveled the Kerr Mill in 1987, turning to ashes the jobs of 946 textile workers. Fifteen years later, just a couple months after the opening of the Star Store, the ATMC opened. It was made possible by a partnership of the business community, the university, and local and state government. The center now houses start-up technology companies and university labs that are dedicated to research that ultimately creates jobs. Seven companies have already graduated from the center and have opened up shop in the region, creating dozens of real high-tech jobs, which will grow into hundreds in the years to come. The ATMC labs partner with industry throughout the region to help develop new products and modernize manufacturing processes so those companies can compete in the global economy, saving and creating jobs. The presence of the ATMC was a key factor in Meditech, the medical software company, deciding to locate 500 jobs in Fall River, right next to the ATMC. Great Point Energy located its clean energy processing plant in Somerset partly because it would have access to the labs and talent at the ATMC, and the company has committed to hiring 20 UMass Dartmouth engineering interns. The ATMC just this year became the headquarters of the UMass Dartmouth-led Marine Renewable Energy Consortium, which is bringing business, state government, federal government and academia together to develop this emerging industry from Rhode Island, across the SouthCoast and down through Cape Cod. The ATMC is also the home of the Pavement Research Lab, which is helping government and industry build better, longer-lasting roads, which can save taxpayers millions of dollars. Here is the bottom line: We cannot afford to lose these regional economic stimulus assets, and we cannot expect UMass Dartmouth to fund them from a rapidly shrinking state budget or through student fees. The commonwealth needs to keep its promise to our university, which takes its public mission seriously, and to the SouthCoast, which is among the hardest hit regions of this current economic downtourn. In these tough economic times, this would be good policy and smart business. Thomas F. Lyons is president and CEO of Fall River-based BankFive. William N. Whelan is chairman of Whelan Associates, a New Bedford-based real estate development and management firm. Back