UNC and the Town of Chapel Hill announced a new partnership aiming to increase UNC’s economic impact on the town and the Triangle area.
UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz recently explained what this would entail.
“It’s a comprehensive partnership to increase Carolina’s economic impact in Chapel Hill and across the Triangle region by leveraging our universities capabilities to develop talent, translate innovation, and create vibrant places here in our community,” Guskiewicz said.
Many local businesses in the Chapel Hill area struggled throughout the pandemic because of lack of people in the area and COVID-19 capacity restrictions. Guskiewicz said he hopes the presence of more students will help local businesses as the university returns to a more normal campus environment.
“This initiative has been in the works for quite a while, but the timing could not be better to launch it as our downtown business community attempts to regain its footing coming out of the pandemic here the next several weeks and months,” Guskiewicz said.
Initiatives linking the town and university are important. According to Innovate Carolina, since 1958, nearly 800 UNC-affiliated startups launched with 193 still active throughout Orange County. Those 193 startups employ more than 3,000 people and earned more than $300 million dollars in revenue during 2020.
The university will work to try to support new businesses and grow their launch by securing office space for them to operate in. Entrepreneurs will work to get alumni to headquarter their businesses in Chapel Hill, bringing more workers to the area.
In addition to the university’s efforts, the town is working to help provide the infrastructure needed for those businesses to succeed.
By bringing businesses to the community who work with UNC, Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger said the town is working to transform into an innovation district.
“We’ve been taking really bold steps these last few years in trying to be ready for doing this,” Hemminger said. “With continuing to support and expand launch to renovating older buildings downtown in opportunity zones specifically and creating new commercial office space which needs that infrastructure like the parking garage and like some other things going on.”
Hemminger said the economic initiative will bring a revitalization to downtown — the backbone of Chapel Hill.
Photo via the Town of Chapel Hill.
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