Southeastern Massachusetts Regional Economic Development collection

The Southeastern Massachusetts Regional Economic Development collection grew out of a project proposed in 1983 by Professor Toby Huff in response to a Regional Economic Development conference held at SMU on January 20, 1983. At that conference, Governor Michael Dukakis gave a speech outlining the current state of economic development in Southeastern Massachusetts, and the educational role SMU could play in the region’s revitalization. One initiative was to create a center for public policy analysis; and on December 15, 1983 the Center for Policy Analysis (CFPA) was founded, with Toby Huff as the Center’s first Director. The Center later became the Center for Policy Analysis, which is currently the Public Policy Center (see also URC 90), a unit within the College of Arts and Sciences. The second goal of the project was to enhance the education and training of workers in the region through computer literacy, high technology, and education, which led to the development of new and interdisciplinary programs at SMU, including the program in Crime and Justice Studies, Public Administration, and computer science. The library component of this project, in addition to adding to the resources held in business, led to the creation of a collection of reports and other current literature on economic development and jobs in the region. Alfred Kagan served as the Economic Development Bibliographer and was responsible for creating this collection, referred to as the Southeastern Massachusetts Regional Economic Development collection, which was housed from 1983 to 1996 in the library’s reference area. According to the Business library liaison, after 1985 the collection was no longer being updated.