Business Incubator, Expanded Academic Programs to Open this Fall
12/02/2016
Media contacts: Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu and Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944 or Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu
LOWELL, Mass. – UMass Lowell today announced detailed plans for the new location of its Haverhill satellite campus, including expanded academic programs and a new business incubator to serve the region.
UMass Lowell will open the permanent site for its Haverhill campus – 22,000 square feet over two floors of the newly constructed Harbor Place – for the fall 2017 semester. The multi-tenant building is located in the heart of the city’s downtown, offering ease of access to local businesses, highways and public transportation and the commuter rail.
UMass Lowell Chancellor Jacquie Moloney and state Rep. Brian Dempsey of Haverhill made the announcement at an event at Harbor Place with Haverhill Mayor James Fiorentini and representatives of the building’s development team, state and local government, the Greater Haverhill Foundation and the university.
“UMass Lowell’s satellite campus at Harbor Place will allow the university to deliver its high-quality programs in a location that is even more convenient for those who live and work in the Greater Haverhill area,” said Moloney. “This new location will also help the university expand on the partnerships we have built in this community and forge new relationships that will enable us to be even more responsive to the needs of local employers and entrepreneurs.”
“By locating its satellite campus at Harbor Place, UMass Lowell will play a crucial role in the transformation of downtown Haverhill and to the overall economic health of the region,” said Dempsey. “As a UMass Lowell graduate, I know the tremendous value that education brings to individuals and employers, as well as the strength of the university’s commitment to the community.”
UMass Lowell’s annual positive economic impact on the region is more than $921 million, according to research by the UMass Donahue Institute, up from $490 million in 2010. UMass Lowell is designated as an Innovation and Economic Prosperity University by the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU).
While the downtown location has been under construction, UMass Lowell’s Haverhill satellite campus has been operating at Northern Essex Community College and offering undergraduate courses and degree programs in subjects including business, criminal justice and psychology.
With the move to Harbor Place, the university will continue to offer those programs with expanded options and academic services and will launch a new executive education program for mid-level and senior managers. All of the academic programs will be under the auspices of UMass Lowell’s award-winning Division of Online and Continuing Education.
UMass Lowell’s new business incubator will be based on the model of the successful Innovation Hub that it operates in downtown Lowell. It will provide technology startups with a range of services including co-working and private office space and a prototype makerspace for research and development of new products, as well as access to the expertise of UMass Lowell faculty and state-of-the-art research facilities. The site will also make flexible meeting and conference space available to the community and businesses.
In conjunction with the incubator and its academic programs in Haverhill, the university will explore a special MBA option for Haverhill that would allow students to complete experiential education with Innovation Hub companies.
“The Innovation Hub at Harbor Place will foster innovation, entrepreneurship, economic development and job creation by linking the region’s technology startups and entrepreneurs to resources that facilitate the development, manufacturing and commercialization of their respective innovations,” said Moloney.
The Chronicle of Higher Education ranks UMass Lowell – which has increased enrollment 50 percent since 2007 – as the ninth fastest-growing public doctoral institution in the United States. UMass Lowell is also ranked as a top-tier national university by U.S. News & World Report and has made the second-fastest climb in that ranking in the nation since 2010, up 31 spots from No. 183 to No. 152.
UMass Lowell is a national research university located on a high-energy campus in the heart of a global community. The university offers its more than 17,500 students bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in business, education, engineering, fine arts, health, humanities, sciences and social sciences. UMass Lowell delivers high-quality educational programs, vigorous hands-on learning and personal attention from leading faculty and staff, all of which prepare graduates to be ready for work, for life and for all the world offers. www.uml.edu