UB Regional Institute Featured at UB Business Partners Day

The UB Regional Institute participated in the 2009 UB Business Partners Day on June 4, 2009, to highlight how its industry partnerships help the university advance regional economic growth and business development. In addition to exhibiting its work, including the online Regional Knowledge Network, the institute held a workshop to present results of its research partnership with the Western New York Human Resources Group, representing some of the region's largest employers. Presented by Kathryn A. Foster, institute director, presented with Thomas A. Fentner, senior vice president, Human Resources & Administrative Services, HealthNow New York Inc., parent company of BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York, addressed the disconnect between the region's "brain drain," or loss of recent graduates, and pressing labor shortages faced by leading employers. Findings from that effort also have been published in a final report, Western New York Regional Skills Assessment. On a related effort, the institute has also been partnering with the Western New York Consortium of Higher Education on Better by Degrees, an initiative to advance the region’s higher education industry as a regional economic driver.