City Of West Palm Beach: Mayors Announce Exploratory Conversations With UF Around Innovative Academic Opportunities In WPB

West Palm Beach FL

25 August, 2021

10:22 AM

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Press release from the City of West Palm Beach: 08/24/2021 1:59 PM WEST PALM BEACH, FL (August 24, 2021) -- Building on the continued increase in companies relocating to West Palm Beach and calling the region home, county and city leaders have begun conversations on how to amplify this success by accelerating the region's academic offerings for graduate students, professionals, and executives. To help inform these conversations, officials have turned to Florida's flagship public university – the University of Florida – whose breadth and depth of expertise in academic programming and statewide impact make it an ideal choice for a potential partner. In June, Palm Beach County Mayor Dave Kerner and City of West Palm Beach Mayor Keith A. James traveled together to Gainesville to meet with UF President Kent Fuchs to hear his vision for how a flagship university with a unique focused presence in a large urban area could serve the dual purpose of catalyzing regional growth while extending a university's mission of outreach and service. Fuchs led Cornell University's efforts to build the Cornell Tech Campus in New York City while serving as Cornell's provost. Currently ranked No. 6 among all public research universities, UF's mission centers on its role as a catalyst for the entire state – a role that requires UF to think beyond Gainesville to the urban centers of gravity like West Palm Beach that make Florida a bellwether state for the nation and world. "This is a rare opportunity for Palm Beach County to benefit from a second public university – one that complements and enriches our current education ecosystem in ways that will position us to be irresistible to the types of companies that our economic development partners work so hard to attract and support today," Kerner said. "The potential ripple effect is expansive, and our citizens will benefit greatly if we can bring a preeminent university such as University of Florida to West Palm Beach." The rapid economic growth of South Florida and Palm Beach County, in particular, creates a compelling case for consideration. West Palm Beach's urban core and premier coastal location continue to attract residents and companies alike, including corporations representing the state's growth sectors of finance, technology, business, engineering, and law. These companies have indicated a growing need to support their own growth and expansion by having innovative graduate, professional, and executive academic programs in areas such as financial technology, artificial intelligence, data analytics, and cyber security in their own backyard. UF graduates are in increasingly high demand from the nation's leading companies. "Make no mistake," said Kelly Smallridge, President and CEO of the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County, "the need to offer innovative degrees in these fields from a leading national university is a very real one. It's a challenge for companies that are already here, who reportedly send their employees out of state for advanced degrees or import people with a higher skill set. That, in turn, puts increased pressure on our housing crisis and gives the out-of-state candidate an advantage to fill that job." City, county, and UF leaders believe that a presence from a top-tier public university would help all of the region's institutions of higher education thrive. "There is a vital role for Florida Atlantic University and other local colleges and universities to partner with us in an effort to advance higher education offerings in the region," Fuchs said. "We are honored by the invitation from city and county leaders to explore with them the possibility of creating unique, focused graduate academic programs that will respond to the emerging needs of the region while advancing workforce development. We see in West Palm Beach an opportunity for a sustainable model that will build new collaborative bridges that can help all of Florida thrive." This press release was produced by the City of West Palm Beach. The views expressed here are the author's own.