UAFS explains economic development role, global outreach

It may be the three “R’s” in the classroom, but it’s the three “C’s” outside the classroom that Dr. Paul Beran believes are “vital” to the future socio-economic development success.

Beran, chancellor of the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, spoke Friday (Dec. 4) at the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce First Friday breakfast about the university’s role in economic development and its global outreach efforts.

UAFS was cited by chamber and state economic development officials for playing an important role in recruiting Mitsubishi Power Systems Americas to Fort Smith. Mitsubishi officials announced Oct. 16 plans to build a $100 million wind turbine manufacturing plant on 90 acres at Fort Chaffee that will employ up to 400 once fully operational. Construction on the 200,000-square-foot building is set to begin in early 2011.

Beran said Takeo Suzuki, executive director of international relations at UAFS, played a “very, very important” role in making sure Mitsubishi officials were “socially and culturally welcomed.” Suzuki and Yoko Kowata, a two-year visiting scholar from Tokyo, are laying the groundwork that will help acclimate the 30 Japanese families expected to move to the Fort Smith area with the Mitsubishi project.

The UAFS role in economic development is to support the front line economic development groups like the chamber, Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority and Arkansas Economic Development Commission, Beran explained.

That support, especially with the Mitsubishi deal, comes in three broad areas.
• Training for workers;
• Support for family members who relocate; and
• Support for corporate/company executives.

An important UAFS jobs with respect to economic development is to teach critical thinking skills to students at all levels and across all sectors of learning, Beran told the chamber crowd. He said many attractive jobs 10 years out aren’t now in existence, which means critical thinking skills are required to help students adapt to changing cultures, careers and technologies.

“You have to build that culture of life-long learning,” Beran said.

Part of the life-long learning includes an aggressive approach to exchange programs with universities in other countries, according to Ray Wallace, provost and senior vice chancellor at UAFS.

He said UAFS is part of a global program that allows its students to study in more than 45 countries, and allows students from China, Japan, Korea and numerous other countries to attend UAFS. In the 2008-09 school year, 25 UAFS students studied abroad. That number jumped to 49 in the 2009-10 year, and will be “much higher” in the 2010-11 year, Wallace said. Also, the exchange effort will bring between 30-50 foreign students to UAFS in the fall 2010 semester.

The exchange program includes “Maymester” trips, in which UAFS students travel for a few weeks for more hands-on learning. Trips proposed for May 2010 include Vietnam, the Czech Republic and a contingent of about 20 UAFS business students to the World Expo in Shanghai.

The outreach has potential economic development connections. For example, UAFS officials are working close with Wuhu University in China — a university with a close tie to Chery Auto, China’s largest automaker and one of the fastest growing automakers in the world. Wallace predicted the company will one day have an interest in producing vehicles in the U.S. market. The relationships, Wallace noted, may give Fort Smith an edge when Chery looks to the U.S.

To “continue on the path” that brought success in landing Mitsubishi, it’s important for various state and local leaders — city, chamber, AEDC, etc. — to focus on communication, coordination and collaboration, Beran told The City Wire after the meeting.

“We have to leave our egos at the door,” Beran said, adding that all players in the Mitsubishi effort were focused on following the three “C’s.”