As the cry goes out for colleges to pay up, two groups try to make the most of university dollars

“Unlike Boston, where students and families will look to Boston and then shop for a college, that doesn’t happen in our market,” says Consortium CEO Mark Bilotta. “They find a specific college and it happens to be in Worcester.”

The second heading is “Buy Greater Worcester.” Citing its stake in the economic health of the region, the Consortium member institutions “seek, whenever possible, to purchase goods and services from Worcester and Central Massachusetts businesses.” That’s almost exactly what the Partnership was also set up to do. The way the Consortium is going about it is through its proprietary Worcester County Vendor Database, where “businesses can submit information about their products and services. The database is available to purchasers on the campuses who are looking for local vendors.”

The third initiative is called “Joint Purchasing.” Essentially, the Consortium has placed its members in a buying group, where they can pool their purchasing power to get better deals, and ostensibly, to favor local vendors — exactly the mission of the Partnership. The Consortium also recently launched an online internship database. Last week, it held a business and human services career fair.

“I think when Tim Murray and Jim Leary worked on a task force to put the UniverCity Partnership concept together,” says the Partnership’s Armand Carriere, “they were looking at something that would look more externally, more to the community with a specific eye towards economic development.”

The discussion began while then-City Manager Thomas Hoover was still in office. It would have been up to him to bring the city’s colleges to the table — something he was apparently unwilling to do. As for the colleges themselves, they have been consistently clear in their opposition to any such plan, meeting calls for PILOT with public statements explaining the investments Worcester’s universities already make in community efforts.

It was in that context that then-Mayor Murray’s task force, headed by then-state Rep. James Leary, made its report. The Partnership, formed as a result, was modeled after other city-and-university partnerships around the country. Its stated mission was to recommend ways in which the city of Worcester could “better utilize local colleges for economic development and expansion of the tax base.”

Leary, who is now Lt. Governor Murray’s chief of staff, wrote those recommendations, now generally known as “The Leary Report.” In the introduction, he says, “Most important, given the ongoing debate on the issue, it is critical to note that our mandate does not include a study or issuance of recommendations regarding a so-called PILOT (payment-in-lieu-of-taxes) program.” He also wrote, “Nonetheless, the members do share the view that, regardless of the ultimate outcome of any PILOT deliberations, there exists ample opportunities to better utilize the colleges for economic development and expansion of the tax base. Successfully doing so would clearly benefit the city and would benefit the colleges as well.”

What the report did not point out was that there was already an organization in place with a similar mission, one which might have otherwise been expected to perform the duties being recommended for the new, well-funded Partnership. But the Partnership offered something the Consortium did not, beyond the impression that something was being done — an impression important to defusing pressure for a PILOT program. It offered a place at the table for some of the usual gang of Worcester civic figures. The non-profit Partnership includes among its members such organizations as the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Worcester Business Development Corporation, the City of Worcester — and the Colleges of Worcester Consortium its own self.

It gets a little strangled when some of the vested interests start explaining the difference between the two groups and their missions. “The Consortium is focused on working among the universities — internally focused within the universities and college structure,” says Richard Kennedy, executive director of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce. “The [UniverCity] Partnership is really focusing on the issue of economic development — how do we get more of the purchasing power directed into the city? How do we get some of the people who are involved with education interacting with the community and the businesses? How do we get some further focus on retention of students? There are a lot of issues that were not necessarily part of the charter of the Consortium.”

In April 2005, the Partnership announced the hiring of Armand Carriere as its first executive director. A Woonsocket, R.I., native, he arrived in Worcester after leaving a position in the Office of University Partnerships at the Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington, D.C. He acknowledges that the separation takes some attention. “Certainly, the ‘university,’ or collegiate, aspect of the title makes the comparison to the Consortium most obvious, but we are attempting to work with the city and the community,” Carriere says. “There is a continual effort to avoid stepping on each other’s toes. We want to complement each other without duplicating what each entity is involved with. They are equal partners in this arrangement.”

What makes the question of whether we need both organizations more interesting is the money. Assistant City Manager Julie Jacobson, Partnership board chairperson and liaison for the city, says the Partnership is working with a budget of $112,000 and the city is committed to its development for three years. “There is $35,000 from the city, $35,000 from the Colleges of the Worcester Consortium and approximately $42,000 of in-kind contributions from the business community. The Worcester UniverCity Partnership works closely with the Consortium and has access to some of their subcommittees to help drive some of our agenda.”

“I’m involved with both,” says Linda Looft, assistant vice president for government and community relations at WPI. “I’m a liaison to the Partnership. I sat on the mayor’s task force. I am also the chair of the external relations committee for the Consortium. So I have my feet planted in both. This is my perspective: The intent really was to find a mechanism outside of the Consortium, because the Consortium is a membership organization whose mission is to serve its members and to help it with its organizational issues.

“Armand brought us all to the table around the conversation of an internship database,” Looft says. “This is before Mark’s time and the reorganization of the Consortium. Once we realized that there were ways to use Consortium connections to make that happen through Mark’s leadership, they both said, ‘This is something the Consortium can do. Armand did a great job getting us there.’”

A little context: The cry for PILOT is issued every few years, especially when money’s tight in the city coffers (like the $21 million deficit the administration is currently facing). It basically asks the question: Why can’t the non-profits chip in to help with ever-increasing local property taxes?

By law, the city can’t demand it because non-profits are tax-exempt. But it can ask. Proponents say the city lacks the will to do that for fear of appearing to not be grateful for the contributions that the colleges already make — bringing 30,000 students to the city and employing 11,000 people, among other things.

PILOT proponents also point out that Worcester businesses pay one of the highest commercial tax rates in the state and more and more real estate is taken off the tax roll. It estimated that non-profits hold some $2 billion worth of property, which is nearly 30% of the total tax base. Given this as a subtext, Murray and his administration had to do something. The task force offered the Partnership as an answer.

Linda Looft, assistant vice president for government and community relations at WPI.

Facing a $21 million shortfall, the city administration is once again looking for creative ways to balance the budget. And PILOT is back on the table. “Boston collects more than $13 million a year from non-profits because they ask them if they would contribute toward the expenses of running city government,” says Gary Vecchio, president of the Shrewsbury Street Neighborhood Association. “Providence collects $2.5 million just from four colleges and they have a 20-year agreement with them. So they will be collecting more than $50 million.

“The Partnership program is modeled after a program in Providence, and they have a PILOT program,” Vecchio says. “The two are not mutually exclusive. The first thing that has to happen is the city has to ask. Up until this point the city has never asked.”

The Leary Report also pointed out examples of productive collaborations that already exist between the city and local colleges. It specifically cited The University of Massachusetts Medical School’s collaboration with local biomedical and biotechnology research companies; the partnering of WPI and the Worcester Business Development Cooperation on the Gateway Park Project; Clark University’s University Park Partnership with the Main South Community Development Corporation; Quinsigamond Community College’s work with the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce; and The Massachusetts College of Pharmacy’s purchase and renovation of a whole downtown city block.

According to The Leary Report, “These and other local examples provide ample proof that cooperative efforts between local colleges, the business community and the city can positively impact the local economy tax base.”

“As I argue: This is no us/them,” says Bilotta. “The colleges, unlike some of the businesses, aren’t going anywhere. We are not relocating to India. This is our community. So what more can we do in ways that can enhance our community? As Worcester improves and is ‘poised for greatness,’ as Mike [O’Brien] says, the colleges benefit. So how can Worcester, in concert with the city, help Worcester to rise? So having a separate entity, I think it is the colleges saying, ‘We know that’s one [step] that we need to take and therefore the Partnership can focus on economic development.’

“The bottom line is, if you want the colleges to be more active, really engaged in economic development, we really needed a separate entity. Because the Consortium is so engaged in academic and shared resources and higher ed. access services and to some extend economic development, the colleges are saying there’s probably more we can do, and it should involve the city and the business community,” Bilotta says.

The Leary Report had two basic categories of recommendation. The first was “a structure for communication” to be established. “At minimum this structure should involve the appointment of a point person from city government, one from the business community, one from the Colleges of Worcester Consortium and one from each college.”

The second category was “specific reporting requirements and measurement tools must be established and enforced.”

Local businessman Bill Randell served on the task force that advised The Leary Report. He is also a local activist who comments further on the Partnership in his blog. “Recently I have read about the PILOT issue being brought up again by some of the councilors,” he writes. “As a result I decided to check out the agency that was created by our task force, the UniverCity Partnership. I got to tell you that I was rather disappointed. Although I have not heard of many of our recommendations being implemented, I was hoping that I have read something different. Quick, can anyone tell me who heads this Partnership?”

“I think the Chamber of Commerce should have taken more of a lead on it because the really beneficiaries are the businesses,” says neighborhood activist Gary Vecchio. “I support the goal. I'm not so sure that the city should be chipping in $30,000 a year, particularly when you are facing the type of budget situation we are facing.”

Although they haven’t made an official announcement yet, Jacobson says one major recent development is the area colleges contributing and participating in the funding of the Hanover Theater for the Performing Arts. “The colleges have been very receptive to this,” she says. “Many will be active. So there’s a tangible economic development project in the downtown that will benefit many. We had some funding gaps and the colleges have stepped to the plate.”

When asked if he is monitoring developments, Carriere says, “We are tracking that and continue to refine that kind of data collection so that we can present a realistic picture — whether it is in response to PILOT or just a statement of what the colleges are contributing. We want that to be accurate.”

When asked to answer those who want to know what has he done for the city lately, Carriere presents a shopping list of items. He mentions the proposal concerning the Hanover Theater for the Performing Arts. “We feel it is going to be a major boon to downtown, a wonderful asset for the colleges as they take advantage of not only the performances but the facility itself, the potential for internships with professional theater,” he says.

He then talks about connecting students with the Worcester Housing Authority to develop an instructional video and the rebuilding of their Web site. “It was very impressive, very effective and at no cost to the city. Great experience for the students,” Carriere says. “Again, capturing the intellectual capital of the colleges and applying it to a real-life situation.”

Carriere also lists initiatives happening at Worcester State College where students are addressing the achievement gap. He talked about a program called Jumpstart, where WSC, Becker and Quinsig students are helping to bring up the “level of readiness to pre-schoolers.”

Carriere suggests that while some projects are not necessarily Partnership initiatives, the organization is making its presence felt in the community in other ways. He singles out the recent announcement made by Holy Cross to develop a parcel of land on Southbridge Street as an example. In a release issued in early March, the school announced that the College of the Holy Cross had convened a community advisory committee of local residents, students and college staff to “explore the feasibility of a mixed-use retail/office/commercial development on the College-owned four-acre site at Southbridge and College streets.”

Holy Cross President Michael McFarland specifically noted that “the plan is fully in the spirit of Worcester’s UniverCity Partnership, which encourages collaboration among private businesses, municipal government and the city’s colleges.”

Last summer, an organization consisting of students from the city’s nine colleges and universities formed Worcester Intercollegiate Government (WIG), which was established, in part, to serve as a resource for private- and public-sector entities interested in tapping into the student market. “With 30,000 students and a permanent population of less that 170,000 residents, Worcester rivals places like Boston and Cambridge as a college town,” said Patrick Murray, a senior at the College of the Holy Cross who serves as WIG’s chair. “The city, through the UniverCity Partnership, has stressed economic development as a top priority. We felt we could help these efforts by being available to businesses, developers and municipal officials to provide input and to communicate with students.”

“I am not claiming credit,” Carriere says. “The point is, UniverCity Partnership has been in front of the colleges. I think the concept is how do we do something that not only benefits the campus but the community. My role is to continue to advocate for things like that.”

WPI’s Looft says she would “really like to see it continue because the work that is just now beginning to bear fruit is going to continue. As a member of both organizations, I think there is considerable value in the UniverCity Partnership. It’s not something that will happen overnight, but we are going to see results in the next year or so. We are already seeing results. It’s a very different mission from what the Consortium has.”

When asked what he tells people when they inquire about the difference between the Partnership and Consortium, Carriere says, “The Consortium is fundamentally an organization that is focusing on their member institutions. They are looking at promoting the educational product of Central Massachusetts. They are developing academic programs — cross-registration. They are a part of the marketing of this community. Much of it is regional.

“It’s a broad mandate, but when you compare it to the UniverCity Partnership, which is specifically Worcester-centric, it has this economic development, neighborhood/community development focus,” Carriere says. “It’s looking to make use of campus resources, including the intellectual capital, in as many different ways as we can. All of which are aimed at the betterment of the community.”