NewHavenBIZ

36 n e w h a v e n B I Z | S e p t e m b e r / O c t o b e r 2 0 1 9 | n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m E d s & M e d s Eds & Meds: Salvation or Snare? Are education and health care New Haven's strength or vulnerability? By Melissa Nicefaro W ith more than 30,000 employees at the university and its namesake health system, Yale accounts for about one of every four jobs in New Haven. at extreme employment dependence would be one thing in a little Midwestern one-factory town. In a diversified Northeast city, it's some- thing altogether different. It's not an accident, but a logical evolution. A century ago one of the region's most vital manufacturing hubs, the City of Elms has over the last half-century evolved from a manufacturing-based economy to one built on a foundation of infor- mation and science — specifically, higher education and health-care research and delivery. ey call it "Eds & Meds." New Haven has always (well, at least since 1716) been defined by the presence of Yale — but never solely by the university. e Elm City has always had a separate iden- tity as a manufacturing and trans- portation center. And an economy independent of the university — the Elm City was never dependent solely on selling shiny baubles, en- tertainment and hospitality to rich kids from Westport or Wellesley. Like many other cities, New Haven also supported two hospitals — a university-affiliated teaching hospital (Yale-New Haven) and a Catholic Hospital (St. Raphael). As manufacturing declined aer World War II and workers moved to the suburbs, New Haven embarked on a long and not always seamless metamorphosis (arguably still in process) to a knowledge-based economy. is transformation was fueled in part by scientific research coming out of Yale, including that related to bioscience applications and/or undertaken under the Yale School of Medicine umbrella. Add to that the aggressive growth trajectory of the Yale New Haven Health system — Yale-New Haven Hospital's corporate parent — and you have a university/health system "synergy" that has rede- fined the economy of the city and the region. Today the Yale-New Haven Health (YNHH) system and the university are the two largest employees in the city and region by a large measure, employing nearly 35,000 workers between them in Connecticut. Indeed, New Haven's reliance on higher education and health care as its employment base is more pro- nounced than any other U.S. metro area. e State Science & Technol- ogy Institute, which tracks industry employment and trends, ranks New Haven tops among the 100 metropolitan areas in the country with the largest total "eds & meds" employment dependence — 26.9 percent of all jobs here. at reliance is a double-edged sword. Economists warn that relying on one industry or industry group is risky to a local econo- my's long-term health. But it's not unique to New Haven: Many mid- sized cities rely to a great extent on a single industry that dwarfs others (e.g., Hartford and insurance). New Haven's dominant position in eds & meds starts with Yale's billion-dollar R&D budget and the university's ability to attract top-tier researchers as students, faculty and post-docs, explains Matt McCooe, chief executive officer of Connecti- cut Innovations, the state's public/ private technology investment arm. "We've had a bunch of wins, and success begets success," McCooe, says. "From Alexion [Pharmaceuti- cals] to this recent cohort with Bio- Haven going public and Jonathan Rothberg's successful companies [beginning with CuraGen and now Butterfly], we've spent a long time creating a cluster with job-sliding opportunities." e presence of 40 or so life-sciences companies in the region provides a critical mass of career opportunities for scientists, researchers and support staff. "at cross-pollination and fertilization is giving people better experience that they can carry on to the next job," McCooe says. "When Bristol Myers-Squibb bought Alex- ion [in 2017] and moved people to Boston, it was a bunch of really talented people who didn't want to move." However, McCooe doesn't feel that the prospect of bioscience workers leaving Connecticut when their employers seek greener pastures elsewhere is unusual — or even that great a problem. "It's not practical to say that we're Connecticut Innovations' McCooe: "We've had a bunch of wins [in New Haven], and success begets success."

• Cover