The Hudson Valley Economic Development Corp. is launching a new initiative in 2015 aimed at developing an industry cluster that aligns two of the region”™s strongest sectors ”” health care and education.
Officials at the New Windsor-based organization said the new initiative, Hudson Valley Eds & Meds, will bring together the region”™s colleges and universities along with major health care providers and health organizations to produce jobs and spur economic growth in the region. It follows HVEDC”™s three other marketing efforts to spur the growth of industry clusters and attract businesses to the region ”” NY BioHud Valley, Hudson Valley Food and Beverage Alliance and Hudson Valley 3D Printing.
“HVEDC launched HV Eds & Meds because the Hudson Valley region is a major center for institutions of higher learning and health care providers in the United States,” HVEDC President and CEO Laurence P. Gottlieb said in the recent announcement. “Regions with considerable higher education and health care resources are prime locations for retaining and attracting business, so this cluster development initiative makes perfect sense for the Hudson Valley.”
“The question that we want to answer is,” Gottlieb told the Business Journal, “are these colleges and universities turning out the kinds of workers that health care organizations need to grow and sustain their incredible growth?… Health care is growing at an alarming pace in the Hudson Valley. How do you sustain that growth?”
“It”™s a regional issue,” Gottlieb said. “You can”™t just look at it county by county.”
“The Hudson Valley region will also become even more well-known as a major epicenter for higher education and health care institutions,” Gottlieb said in the press release. “This region deserves national recognition in these two sectors, and by launching this new initiative we are providing a regional, supporting platform for developing new and exciting partnerships.”
Gottlieb said HVEDC will forge stronger strategic alliances between the region”™s health care organizations and public and private colleges and universities. The effort will begin in the first half of 2015 with a series of “conversations to find out what the issues and challenges are,” followed by the development of s strategic plan to better align the health care and education sectors “with each other, with what they need and with what the marketplace needs.”
In early 2015, HVEDC will announce details of a series of Eds & Meds events and promotional activities that will be scheduled throughout the year.
