Changes

<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Elon is located in the Triad and is very close to the Research Triangle. Our Student Professional Development Center works to connect students with businesses in both of these areas. We also have large job and internship fairs that bring in startups and large companies like Deloitte and Oracle. These programs are very common among most schools and we are currently working to expand them. Because of the many other schools in the area with strong research focuses it is difficult to attract larger research projects but there are some smaller companies that we have been able to work with. Our Environmental Department has been involved with doing some really neat testing for products that will be sold to Kobalt and there are many other projects taking place within our other departments.
As a Leadership Circle this is an area I think we could improve in. To do this we will need to reach out to many of the local companies to see what types of projects and research they might need validated. Because we are such a small school compared to schools like NC State there are some smaller projects that we could work on that would be very helpful to those businesses. The first step for us will be getting involved with the Chamber of Commerce.</span>

<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Elon has made a lot of progress in this area and our plans are to continue to make huge leaps and bounds here. The town of Elon and the surrounding area were hit hard when the textile companies left. Over the next 20 years our university has major priorities to help build up the areas around Elon and create an environment that will bring in more business and attract students and faculty. We have also invested in offices in downtown Burlington and Greensboro that are specifically geared toward community engagement, innovation, and entrepreneurship. These efforts are only possible with the support of the entire university so we plan to help out in whatever way we can. Initially it will be important to do surveys and studies on other universities that have accomplished similar goals. One example that we have looked at is Duke University, which has helped transform Durham over the years. The University has also invested capital into local education. A new elementary school, funded by Elon University, opened its doors for the first time to students in the fall of 2018.