UEDA Annual Summit: Day 1

If you follow us on Twitter, you might have noticed our feed getting a little busy today — it’s because our office has been here at the UEDA Annual Summit 2016, held right in beautiful Roanoke, VA, and we’ve been learning and sharing new ideas about economic development, community engagement, entrepreneurial ecosystems, innovation, and more.

To see what day one has held in store for us and the 200+ attendees of today’s summit, check out the photo gallery below.

: The summit is being held Sunday-Wednesday in the remarkable Hotel Roanoke.

: A packed house.

: Our own director John Provo announces the UEDA Summit Twitter contest, encouraging attendees to tweet out their experiences, thoughts, and questions while at the conference.

: UEDA board member Ashish Vaidya introduces keynote speaker Timothy Sands.

: Virginia Tech President Timothy Sands opens the summit with remarks on envisioning the future of the university, starting with the future and working backwards.

: Susan Magliaro of Virginia Tech’s Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology presents on “The Center for Research in SEAD Education: Moving Beyond Boundaries to Optimize Impacts.”

: In the Washington Lecture Hall, four finalists in the “Innovation” category of the UEDA’s Awards of Excellence present on their projects.

: Our own assistant director Scott Tate opens a session on the Virginia Tech Office of Economic Development’s work studying entrepreneurial ecosystems sponsored by the Kaufman Foundation.

: Maggie Cowell, assistant professor in the Virginia Tech School of Public and International Affairs, continues the presentation on entrepreneurial ecosystems.

: Our own economic development specialist Sarah Lyon-Hill rounds out the presentation.

: After the presentation, attendees to the session split up into groups and discussed ideas.

: Brad Fenwick, senior VP of global strategic alliances for Elsevier, spoke during lunch on “Connecting Universities and Economic Development.”

: Representatives from East Carolina University begin the presentations for the UEDA Awards of Excellence Finalist Presentations for the “Talent + Place” category.

: Panelists present a town hall discussion on collaboration.

: Kelly Hunt Lyon presents during a presentation on “A Holistic View of Higher Education’s Role in Community Engagement and Economic Development.”

: Representatives from SUNY Oswego present their project, “Central New York Agricultural Testing and Analysis Labs,” during the “Talent + Place” category presentations for the UEDA Awards of Excellence.

: A representative from Washington State University presents their project, “Business Growth Mentor & Analysis Program,” during the “Talent + Place” category presentations for the UEDA Awards of Excellence.

: Our own assistant director Scott Tate presents our office’s work with mapping workforce competencies for dislocated coal workers during the “Talent + Place” category presentations for the UEDA Awards of Excellence.

: Scott answers questions following his presentation.

: Sarah Lyon-Hill presents part of a talk on startup communities in Roanoke and Blacksburg.

: In Roanoke Ballroom A, a presenter discusses “MEP, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership: Providing Manufacturing Assistance to Enable Economic Development.”