Spalding, senior leaders from Association of Public and Land-grant Universities Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities present on advancing talent and workforce development

David Spalding was an invited panelist for a Sept. 15 GUIRR-hosted virtual webinar on innovative economic engagements efforts by select APLU IEP University designees.

AMES, Iowa — Interim vice president for economic development and industry relations David Spalding was one of three invited panelists to present during a Sept. 15 virtual webinar hosted by the Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable (GUIRR) at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) on innovative economic engagement efforts by universities to respond to the needs of their students and regions.

The webinar convened leaders from Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) Innovation and Economic Prosperity (IEP) University designees to learn what they are doing to prepare their students and their regions for jobs and careers in a rapidly changing innovation economy.

Each of the represented institutions have achieved IEP University award recognition for specific projects, programs, and initiatives in economic engagement.

Spalding gave an update of Iowa State’s IEP University award history.

“We are proud to be an Innovation and Economic Prosperity University, Spalding said. “We were recognized with the IEP Talent Award in 2017, we were a finalist for the Innovation Award in 2018, [and] are a finalist for the Innovation Award again here in 2020.”

In addition, Spalding highlighted Iowa State initiatives and programs which he said are part of a committed effort to develop workforce-ready graduates.

As examples, he cited the launches of Iowa State’s Innovate at Iowa State marketing campaign and opening of the new Student Innovation Center, the Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship which bridges the many academic entrepreneurship programs on campus with co-curricular activities such as the CYstarters student accelerator, CyBIZ Lab student consulting and ISU Startup Factory programs. He also provided an overview of the ISU Research Park, which he said plays an important role in developing the workforce and driving Iowa’s economy.

“All of this is designed to have our students, when they graduate, ready to be immediate contributors to the companies they’ve come to work for,” he said.

Spalding said a recent economic impact study shows Iowa State’s efforts create a positive net impact on the state economy and generate a positive return on investment for students, taxpayers, and society.

“All the activities here at Iowa State, operations, construction, research, entrepreneurship, visitors, student spending, combined with the enhanced productivity we bring to the state, generated over $3.4 billion in additional income to the state of Iowa, supporting over two percent of all the jobs here in the state of Iowa,” Spalding said.

Webinar speakers included:

  • Ashley Stokes, associate vice president for Engagement and Extension, Colorado State University
  • Ahmad Ezzeddine, associate vice president for Educational Outreach and International Programs, Wayne State University
  • David Spalding, dean of the Ivy College of Business and interim vice president of economic development and industry relations, Iowa State University

Shalin Jyotishi, assistant director for economic development and community engagement and program director, Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities program at APLU along with GUIRR Program Officer Megan Nicholson at NASEM, introduced the speakers and facilitated the session.

The full recording of the webinar and PowerPoint slides are available here.