Western Carolina University announced plans last week for the Millennial Initiative, a comprehensive regional economic development strategy made possible by the recent acquisition of 344 acres of property adjacent to the main campus.

Characterized by Chancellor John W. Bardo as “a defining moment in the university’s 115-year history,” the Millennial Initiative is designed to enable Western to engage in public-private partnerships that enhance educational opportunities for students in high-tech programs and increase the ability of faculty to conduct cutting-edge research, while simultaneously promoting economic development.

Western purchased the Millennial Initiative land – 64 acres known as the Killian property and 280 acres called the Hooper tract – using $2.87 million set aside for property acquisition as part of the university’s share of funds provided through the 2000 N.C. Higher Education Bond Referendum. University officials estimate that up to 75 percent of the land, extending from the property line of the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching past the Jackson County Airport and along Little Savannah Road, is suitable for building. The acquisitions more than double the size of Western’s campus.

University officials plan to develop the property as a multiple-use neighborhood that will be home to a mix of academic buildings, research facilities, business, industry and housing. Located on the opposite side of N.C. 107 from the university’s main campus, the land will become a “knowledge enterprise zone” where university, private industry and government partners conduct research and development into scientific and technological innovations that have commercial applications, Bardo said.

“We are attempting to fulfill a promise we made to the people of Western North Carolina,” Bardo said. “We want to keep the best and brightest of the region’s young people from having no choice but to leave home to find the type of high-paying jobs available elsewhere. We want the children of the mountains to be able to remain in the mountains and to be participants in the high-tech, knowledge-based global economy of the 21st century.”

State legislation approved in 2000, based on a measure originally written by staff at Western, made it possible for University of North Carolina institutions to seek public-private partnerships to improve the academic experience for students and allow universities to apply their intellectual resources – their faculty, students and staff – to foster economic development to benefit their respective regions and the state.

“Western Carolina University’s Millennial Initiative capitalizes on Western’s research and entrepreneurial strengths to promote economic development and prepare the region’s workforce for the transformed economy of the new millennium,” said N.C. Gov. Michael Easley.

U.S. Rep. Charles Taylor called the launching of the Millennial Initiative a significant part of ongoing efforts to help the people of WNC rebound from staggering job losses in such traditional manufacturing areas as furniture and textiles.

“The Millennial Initiative is a logical extension of the work that we have been doing over the past several years through the Education and Research Consortium,” said Taylor.

University officials say they want to move as quickly as possible on development of the Millennial property, and are in the early phases of a comprehensive master plan to determine the most logical building sites for the different types of structures to be located there.

Representatives of several private companies already have contacted university officials to explore potential partnerships, including a business investigating environmentally friendly methods of pest control, a wireless technology company interested in new product development, and a secure data storage facility.

More information on the Millennial Initiative at Western Carolina University is available on the Web at millennial.wcu.edu.