Grants given to study area development – Institute awards four grants to EWU faculty

Eastern Washington University’s Institute for Public Policy and Economic Analysis has awarded four grants to EWU faculty members to study regional business and economic development.

Tom Sowa
Staff writer

Stipends range from $5,000 to $12,000.

Grants were awarded to these projects:

•A community social profile of Airway Heights.

The six-month project will be conducted by sociology professor Pamela Elkind, sociology department chairman Dale Lindekugel and urban and regional planning professor Dick Winchell.

The goal is to learn more about community views in Airway Heights and to solicit reaction to the Corrections Center and the Kalispel Tribe’s Northern Quest casino in the area.

•A socio-economic profile of Asian Pacific Americans in the Inland Northwest.

The three-month project will be under the direction of Pui-Yan Lam, assistant professor of sociology. A goal is better understanding of racial and ethnic communities within the region.

•A study of the history and cultural factors behind economic development in the Spokane region.

Government professor Shane Mahoney will conduct interviews with area business and government officials, studying the civic culture of economic development efforts.

•An analysis of technology transfer from Inland Northwest universities.

Harm-Jan Steenhuis, assistant professor of management, will lead a team of researchers who will gather data about technology transfer from area universities to commercial applications.

This is the second round of funding by the EWU institute. Last winter, five grants ranging from $3,000 to $10,000 each were awarded.

So far, one paper has been published, titled "A Demographic and Economic Analysis for the City of the Spokane Valley" and written by assistant professor of economics Grant Forsyth. A second paper is planned shortly on the racial and ethnic diversity of Spokane and Kootenai counties.

The institute publishes papers at the conclusion of each research project, said director Patrick Jones.

"With the publication of these first monographs, the institute has established itself as an impartial academic source of information for the region," said Jeffers Chertok, dean of EWU’s College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

The university created the institute last year to provide analysis and data on community-driven topics.

Requests for proposals on specific topics and one open-ended proposal are issued twice a year.

For more information, contact Jones at (509) 358-2266 or [email protected]

•Business writer Tom Sowa can be reached at (509) 459-5492 or by e-mail at [email protected].

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story.asp?date=080503&ID=s1390963&cat=section.business