ERIC Number: EJ935371
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011-Apr-29
Pages: N/A
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1938-5978
EISSN: N/A
Launching the next Industrial Revolution in New England: New Hampshire's Green Launching Pad 1.0 and 2.0
Gittell, Ross; Venkatachalam, A. R.
New England Journal of Higher Education, Apr 2011
There is an exciting new opportunity for universities and colleges to advance the New England economy and at the same time help address environmental concerns. The current snapshot of New England's economy relative to other areas is favorable. The region suffered less decline during the recent recession than the national average, and the region's recovery has been stronger than the national average. Neither of these were true for the previous three recessions. The problem is that having a relatively strong economy in these economic times is not very good. Unemployment rates in the region are still significantly higher than they were before the recession, and with the current rate of job growth, it would take over three years to recover the jobs lost in the Great Recession in the region. After the recessions of the early 1980s and early 1990s, the region benefited from significant growth in growing technology industries. In the growth periods after the last two recessions, New England was one of the leading regions in the nation in the fast-growing, technology-based industries of those times. Coming out of this recession, the region has an opportunity to lead in a new technology-based industry: the so-called "clean tech" industry. The term clean tech describes a group of emerging technologies that provide energy with minimum climate and environmental impact and use resources efficiently. Examples include wind power and solar energy and other new technologies in renewable energy generation and energy, materials and resource conservation. In New England, the clean-tech economy is already evident and can be expanded. All the states in the region are relatively well-positioned in clean-tech industry development. There are many initiatives across the region to try to build on the research oriented clean-technology base in the region to create jobs and enhance employment growth. This article reviews and updates information from a June 2010 New England Journal of Higher Education article on one novel effort, the Green Launching Pad (GLP) in New Hampshire, that has produced significant results in a short period of time and offers a model for other states to consider. It is university-created and based and suggestive of the role that colleges and universities can play in the next industrial revolution in the region.
Descriptors: Employment Patterns, Employment, Colleges, Universities, Higher Education, Environmental Education, Energy, Environmental Influences, Economic Climate, Sustainable Development
New England Board of Higher Education. 45 Temple Place, Boston, MA 02111. Tel: 617-357-9620; Fax: 617-338-1577; e-mail: info@nebhe.org; Web site: http://www.nebhe.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Connecticut; Maine; Massachusetts; New Hampshire; Rhode Island; Vermont
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A