Paul Smith’s College Receivees Nearly $1 million Grant to Launch Troops to Timber Workforce Initiative
Paul Smith’s College — part of the EPIIC award, Partnering to Advance And Drive Innovation on Sustainability and the Environment (PARADISE) — has received a $999,991 grant from the Northern Border Regional Commission’s Forest Economy Program, a federal-state initiative that strengthens the evolving forest economy across northern New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. The award will help Paul Smith’s College launch its Troops to Timber workforce initiative, preparing veterans, military families, and other jobseekers for skilled careers in forestry, logging, arboriculture, and forest management.
How this EPIIC Cohort Trains Faculty to Engage with Industry
The NSF-EPIIC program is empowering universities to strengthen collaboration with industry through tailored workshops that demystify how to build and sustain partnerships. Four institutions, including Santa Clara University, have already launched these efforts and are developing campus-specific action plans.
Innovating at Scale: How Four Small Colleges are Building Big Industry Partnerships
At small colleges like Albion College, the EPIIC-supported “Connect Four” cohort is building regional industry partnerships through modules like interdisciplinary consulting teams, networking, and infrastructure-reforms that embed partnership activity into institutional culture.