Impact of Transit Quality on Anchor-Mediated Knowledge Economies Across Large U.S. Cities

Universities, medical centers, and headquarters are the driving forces behind cities’ innovation productivity and anchor-based urban revitalization efforts, such as innovation districts. As a result, there is increasing competition for corporate anchors, as well as emerging partnerships and conflicts. In each case, transit has a major role to play. Yet we know little about precisely how transit fits into the dynamics of anchor-based revitalization. To address this empirical gap, this study employed structural equation modeling to grasp both the direct and indirect impacts of transit on the knowledge-intensive firm location in 500 large U.S. cities. We conceptualized the indirect impact of transit as mediated by anchors with a composite value that we developed to quantitatively represent the presence and size of major innovation anchors in each city. According to our findings, the positive impact of transit on a city’s overall knowledge economy occurred through its role in supporting anchor institutions, a role that, in turn, significantly increased the likelihood of knowledge-based firms locating in the city. In short, transit quality was positively associated with larger and more established anchors, as well as the availability of more employees, which expands the city’s talent pool, a critical driver of knowledge-intensive employers’ location decisions. These findings call for greater attention to be paid to transit in cities’ anchor-based urban revitalization plans and to partnerships between cities, metropolitan organizations, and anchors in planning future transit systems.

Conducting Consequential Research

This article examines the value undergraduate research adds to writing centers in their role as anchor institutions within English and across college and university campuses. It focuses on a pilot project conducted by a team of mentored peer tutors who researched the accessibility of writing at Marquette University. Their successes and failures show how, beyond research findings, undergraduate research experience can be consequential for practitioners and their communities.

Developing a university-voluntary sector collaboration for social impact

This article outlines how a team of academics, professional staff and students from a Scottish University in the United Kingdom worked with voluntary sector partners to achieve civic and ‘social purpose’ goals, through setting up a project called The Collaborative. This is a reflective paper that draws on collaborative autoethnography and is written collarboratively by that team of academics, professional staff and students. We explore how universities can achieve their civic engagement goals by serving as anchor institutions, and we develop a conceptual framework for how anchor institutions can enact their institutional mission of ‘social purpose’. We uncover important considerations for university initiatives aiming to improve academic and student engagement with community partners for social change, with three learning points around building relationships, building capacity, and barriers to engagement. Service-learning can be used as a pathway to becoming a civic university, however, there are structural barriers that need to be overcome. This is an account of an ethical fact-finding project, reflecting on our experience of working with the local voluntary sector, designed to facilitate the University’s better engagement with such collaborative ‘social purpose’ ventures.

For-profit hospitals as anchor institutions in the United States: a study of organizational stability

Background Anchor institutions, by definition, have a long-term presence within their local communities, but it is uncertain as to whether for-profit hospitals meet this definition; most research on anchor institutions to date has been limited to nonprofit organizations such as hospitals and universities. Accordingly, this study aims to determine whether for-profit hospitals are stable enough to fulfill the role of anchor institutions through a long-term presence in communities which may help to stabilize local economies. Methods This longitudinal study analyzes national, secondary data between 2008 and 2017 compiled from the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care, the American Hospital Association Annual Survey, and County Health Rankings. We use descriptive statistics to calculate the number of closures and mergers of hospitals of different ownership type, as well as staffing levels. Using logistic regression, we also assessed whether for-profit hospitals had higher odds of closing and merging, controlling for both organization and community factors. Results We found for-profit hospitals to be less stable than their public and nonprofit hospital counterparts, experiencing disproportionately more closures and mergers over time, with a multivariable analysis indicating a statistically significant difference. Furthermore, for-profit hospitals have fewer full-time employees relative to their size than hospitals of other ownership types, as well as lower total payroll expenditures. Conclusions Study findings suggest that for-profit hospitals operate more efficiently in terms of expenses, but this also may translate into a lower level of economic contributions to the surrounding community through employment and purchasing initiatives. For-profit hospitals may also not have the stability required to serve as long-standing anchor institutions. Future studies should consider whether for-profit hospitals make other types of community investments to offset these deficits and whether policy changes can be employed to encourage anchor activities from local businesses such as hospitals.

Universities as Arts and Cultural Anchors

Economic developers commonly refer to universities as anchor institutions because they are large, rooted regional economic drivers that are sites of development, incubation, entrepreneurship, workforce readiness, and knowledge transfer. But most anchor research speaks generally about the university or focuses on STEM and not on arts and culture. Our study asks: what is the role of universities in anchoring arts and cultural innovation in the regional creativity ecology, and how are university leaders identifying, communicating, and investing as arts and cultural anchors? Through a qualitative comparative case analysis of four public universities in the Intermountain West combined with target interviews of field innovators and a synthesis of transdisciplinary literature, we deepen the concept of the university arts and cultural anchor and map a theoretical and practical shift from a traditional to contemporary form of anchoring. We identify four stages of anchor readiness, and we propose a pilot assessment tool for university leaders to determine their anchor stage based on awareness and investment. Our applied research helps universities move from being an arts patron to an arts entrepreneur, investor, innovator, and catalyst.

A Comparison of IHEs and Non-IHEs as Anchor Institutions and Lead Agents of Promise Neighborhoods Projects

Place-based initiatives, such as the federal Promise Neighborhoods grant, attempt to coordinate interventions, supports, and services with a myriad of organizations to targeted communities. Although Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs), inclusive of academic medical institutions, are among the most overall researched anchor institution, Non-Institutions of Higher Education (NIHEs) have led more Promise Neighborhood grants since the inception of the program in 2010. Therefore, this study compared the revitalization efforts proposed by IHEs ( n = 5) and NIHE ( n = 5) in their applications for Promise Neighborhoods grants awarded between 2016 and 2018. Although similarities existed within and across the applications from NIHEs and IHEs, namely focused on improving academics and health/wellness, the specific interventions, supports, and services proposed by each lead institution largely reflected the individual needs of the targeted communities. The findings from this study illustrate how IHEs and NIHEs are similarly positioned to effectuate change within their communities. Implementing place-based initiatives requires anchor institutions to allocate considerable time and resources in order to adapt to the current needs of the community in real time. Therefore, future lead agents of Promise Neighborhoods should seek to promote an environment that fosters on-going collaboration and mutual trust across and within multiple stakeholders, while also exploring sustainability efforts to extend gains made beyond the duration of the grant.

Types of Anchor Institution Initiatives

Interest in universities as anchor institutions within their communities and cities is growing as civic leaders search for ways to build local wealth. Systematic analysis of the effects of anchor institution initiatives remains difficult due to the disparate nature of anchor initiatives and a relative lack of a shared language describing the work. This article reviews the anchor literature to summarize current understandings of universities and economic development, then develops a typology of anchor institution initiatives based upon the literature. The typology is based upon the type of capital leveraged by initiatives: (a) financial, (b) physical, (c) intellectual, and (d) human. The author then uses the typology to categorize a number of initiatives found within the literature and through a rough sampling process. This typology offers a shared language for scholars to use to guide discussions around universities as anchor institutions, and, more importantly, the typology can frame analyses of the differential effects, costs, and benefits of different anchor strategies.

Community Foundations as Network Conveners: Structuring Collective Agency for Child Education & Development System Impact

The resource investment and flexibility necessary to support the development of collective agency among autonomous organizational actors can be substantial. Public agencies, with their rigid budget cycles and regulatory burdens, often struggle with providing the resources needed to forge this type of system building to address complex community issues. Community foundations, as anchor institutions in communities, exhibit financial and social power, flexibility, and a reputation for broad community interests that position them to be such conveners. Framing our examination with structuration theory, we conducted a longitudinal mixed methods action research project from Fall 2015 to Spring 2019 to document how a community foundation dislodged schemas and convened a purpose-oriented network to forge collective agency. Data collection included surveying 40 system providers before the launching of the network and 49 providers three years later, interviews with 10 network participants and field observations of 21 network meetings. Network analysis was employed to examine the changes to the system while qualitative methods were used to analyze the processes behind those changes. The implications of this study are that emphasizing the resources and processes that contribute to building collective action broadens perspectives about which organizations may be well suited to convening networks in the public sphere.

Closures and Other Anchor Characteristics of for-profit Hospitals: A Cross-sectional Study

Background:By definition, anchor institutions have a long-term presence in their communities. Case studies of nonprofit anchor hospitals are common, but it is not clear whether for-profit hospitals are stable enough to fill this role. Our purpose is to determine whether for-profit hospitals are stable enough to fill the role of anchor institutions by strengthening their communities and elevating population health through a long-term presence stabilizing local economies. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we analyzed national, secondary data between 2008 and 2017 compiled from the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care, the American Hospital Association Annual Survey, and County Health Rankings. We used descriptive statistics to calculate the number of closures and mergers of hospitals of different ownership type, as well as the employment data. Using logistic regression, we assess whether for profit hospitals had higher odds of closing and merging, controlling for both organization and county characteristics.Results: For-profits are less stable than other hospitals, experiencing disproportionately more closures and mergers over time; a multivariate analysis found that this was a statistically significant difference. Additionally, for-profit hospitals have fewer full-time employees relative to their size than hospitals of other ownership types, as well as lower total payroll expenditures.Conclusions: Our findings suggest that for-profit hospitals are more efficient in terms of operating expenses, but this also may translate into a lower level of economic investment in the surrounding community. For-profit hospitals may also not have the stability required to serve as long-standing anchor institutions. Nonetheless, these organizations still have considerable potential due to their size, tax contributions, and impact on vulnerable communities where other types of hospitals have not been able to operate successfully. Identifying new policy incentives to engage these institutions may help improve population health in surrounding communities.

Unlocking inclusive growth by linking micro assets to anchor institutions: The case of skilled overseas migrants and refugees and hospital jobs

This paper contributes to anchor institution, migrant and refugee integration, skills utilisation and inclusive growth debates. Via a pioneering innovative approach to inclusive urban development linking together physical infrastructure development and neighbourhood management approaches to urban regeneration, it explores the potential for micro assets within communities to be linked to macro assets of large spatially immobile anchor institutions. Through a case study, it draws on experience, and identifies transferable learning points, from a skills-matching element of a large European Union funded project in a superdiverse inner-city deprived neighbourhood in Birmingham, UK. In contrast to the typical emphasis of area-based employment initiatives on people with low skills, the skills-matching initiative focuses specifically on connecting skilled overseas migrants and refugees to skilled and highly skilled jobs in a large local hospital. It underlines the central role of local partnership working and highlights the role of skills utilisation, not merely skills development, in inclusive growth. The evidence suggests that three components underlie success in unlocking and catalysing links between micro assets and a macro asset to realise anchor institution potential: (1) institutional entrepreneurship, which provides the strategic buy-in from the anchor institution; (2) innovative entrepreneurship, which provides the delegated responsibility for implementation; and (3) vision and place leadership, which provides the strategy and resources to build the bridge between the macro asset and the local community to help realise inclusive growth.