President Dr. Brooks Keel speaks of Georgia Southern’s economic development

February 28, 2012

President of Georgia Southern University Dr. Brooks Keel spoke to students in two of Georgia Southern’s entrepreneurship classes. Jim Williams, the Chair of the Advisory Council for the Center for Entrepreneurial Learning and Leadership, hosted Keel during his lecture. Keel’s speech focused on the university’s entrepreneurial development.

Previously the vice chancellor for research and economic development at Louisiana State University, President Keel assumed his role at Georgia Southern two years ago. Since arriving in Statesboro, President Keel has worked to promote the university. “President Keel has been the leader among University presidents that has realized and recognized entrepreneurization and economic development are ways for Georgia Southern to grow,” said Williams.

President Keel started his lecture explaining how he views Georgia Southern. “Many people in the academic world don’t like to think of a university as a business,” said President Keel. “But to tell you the truth, I can’t think of it any other way.” He gave the example of Georgia Southern’s large-scale small-feel of the campus. “This is just one way we market our business,” said President Keel.

President Keel explained the university’s funding has been decreasing for the past several years due to budget cuts from the state of Georgia. According to Keel, if Georgia Southern wants to think about funding, the university has to think about the goals of our Governor. “As the university president, I say we need to position ourselves to follow the goals of the Governor in order to be considered for the funding we need,” said President Keel.

In order to do this, President Keel stressed listening to Governor Nathan Deal and his plans for the state. In the Governor’s State of the State Address on Jan. 10th he mentioned three areas on which he is focused including jobs, transportation and clean water. President Keel sees each of these areas as a way to get Georgia Southern on the governor’s radar screen.

President Keel’s first priority is to help students obtain a job after graduation. “Above everything else, our job as a university is to prepare you and put you into a position where you can get a job,” said President Keel.  When Governor Deal thinks about South Georgia, President Keel wants him to think about Georgia Southern and the jobs the university is working to create.

Being located in the middle of the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and the Port of Savannah corridor, allow opportunities for Georgia Southern to attract the governor’s attention. In particular order to help place Georgia Southern in the picture, the university offers not only a logistics major but now a doctorate in logistics. According to Keel, with the logistics’ expertise of faculty and students, companies will think about moving to the Statesboro/Savannah area. “As a result of these capabilities, I think a lot of people are beginning to look at Georgia Southern a lot differently than they did before,” President Keel said.

In addition, President Keel announced Georgia Southern’s exciting new opportunity as proposed by Governor Deal: serving as the administrative authority of the Herty Advanced Materials Development Center in Savannah. The Herty Center is a business manufacturer incubator. For over 70 years, the Herty Center has worked to unlock commercial opportunities through production of potential new products. Businesses can create a product, rent the facility and test for success before putting the product on the market. “We are going to take advantages of relationships Herty has already made over the years including a 50 year relationship with DuPont,” said President Keel. “Hopefully, people and their companies will take their ideas and by collaborating with our faculty and students set them up here.”

After President Keel’s lecture, students were given the opportunity to ask questions. President Keel’s friendly attitude and calm demeanor helped encourage any student to ask a question no matter the topic. Hands rose immediately with anxious students wanting to know answers from the university president.

[slideshow]