Linking Community Colleges with Economic Development in Florida. ISHE Fellows Program Research Report No. 3, 1982

The relationship between business/industry and education in Florida is discussed in this paper with special emphasis on the role of community colleges in fostering and promoting economic development in the state. First, the paper highlights major factors arguing for strong links between education and industry, including the decline of labor-intensive manufacturing, the rise of high technology industries, the demographic shift to the Sunbelt, and the need for large-scale retraining programs. Next, in examining the role of community colleges in industrial development, the paper outlines the advantages that colleges can offer to industry and provides examples of programs developed in the Carolinas, California, and New Jersey that combine the resources of education and industry. Then, the relationship between education and industry in Florida is examined in terms of demographic and economic changes in the state and legislative and administrative efforts to bring educators in contact with business. After examining the attitudes of Florida colleges toward industry and outlining their efforts to attract new businesses to their service areas, the paper provides suggestions for linking the colleges more closely with future economic development. Recommendations regarding the role of higher education in economic development and an annotated bibliography are appended. (HB)