WSU, UI Both Stressing Economic Development Two Presidents Pledge Not To Neglect ‘Roots’ In Pullman, Moscow

Develop economic diversity. Promote small business growth. Support research entrepreneurs.

It may sound like a CEO’s to-do list, but these goals were presented by the Palouse’s two university presidents Monday night.

Speaking jointly at a Pullman Chamber of Commerce-sponsored economic summit, University of Idaho President Robert Hoover and Washington State University President Sam Smith pledged to keep Moscow and Pullman high on their list when it comes to economic investments.

“We make a major impact here on the Palouse, and we want to make sure it’s one we can sustain,” Smith said.

Hoover said he plans to increase Moscow’s student population from 10,000 to 12,500 in the next seven years while expanding research from the current $65 million a year in grants and contracts to $100 million a year.

But both leaders also stressed the political necessity of expanding their universities’ interests into both states’ urban areas.

“Unless there are more than three individuals in the Legislature supporting the UI, it’s not going to fare well,” Hoover said. “So there’s a survival part of this.”

Smith said increasing faculty salaries would be nearly impossible without the help of Washington’s metropolitan area lawmakers.

“But we remember the fact that our roots are here,” Smith said.

Under increased pressure from state and federal lawmakers to show a public payoff for the money they receive, universities nationwide are turning to economic development as the rationale behind continued public support of academic research.

Both the UI and WSU have been expanding their land-grant missions to include more industry partnerships and an expanded statewide economic development role.

At WSU, that has meant branch campus growth in Vancouver, the Tri-Cities and Spokane, while the UI has turned its attention toward new offerings in Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls.

Fearful that such expansion could draw resources away from their home turf, local business, government and faculty representatives are encouraging Hoover and Smith not to neglect their main campuses.

In February, the Pullman Chamber of Commerce sent WSU a letter requesting a resolution of commitment to WSU’s Pullman campus.

Monday, Smith and Hoover pledged continued help to diversify the region’s economy and improve the climate for attracting and retaining good employees while maintaining the Palouse’s good quality of life.

The increased university interest in economic development comes as the Palouse appears poised for continued growth. In February, Whitman County had the lowest unemployment rate statewide.

Earlier this month, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories announced plans to increase the company’s operating space by 70 percent. Schweitzer, which had 226 employees at the beginning of 1998, predicts that number will grow to nearly 450 by year’s end.

“We’re looking for other Ed Schweitzers,” Smith said, referring to Schweitzer Engineering’s CEO, who got his start at WSU.

Whitman County commissioners recently resurrected the prospect of new development in the Moscow-Pullman corridor, an idea Smith and Hoover showed measured support for despite several concerns raised by audience members.

Though Hoover said many fear “willynilly” development along the corridor, he said he believes the UI and WSU have the talent to develop the stretch “in a tasteful, effective way.”

But the presidents acknowledge that troubling patterns remain for their universities - namely, lagging faculty salaries, budgetary woes and rapidly rising tuition costs.

In the last decade, tuition has jumped 41 percent at WSU when adjusted for inflation. In mid-April, UI officials will ask state Board of Education officials to approve almost a 10 percent increase in student fees for Idaho undergraduates.

WSU officials have announced they plan to cut 45 positions at the Pullman campus.