Town of Hamden and Quinnipiac University established a formal working relationship, as discussed during the Economic Development Commission 2025 Annual Report, presented during the Legislative Council’s 2nd Regular Monthly Meeting Monday evening.
Specifically, the university is working with the Economic Development Commission, coordinated with Commissioner Romeo Ibanez on behalf of the commission.
Mayor Adam Sendroff also expressed interest in creating a Joint Advisory Committee, according to Bethany Zemba, vice president of government and community relations and chief of staff, in a statement to The Chronicle.
“Quinnipiac is proud to be part of the Hamden community,” Zemba wrote. “Our relationship with the Town is rooted in collaboration, respect, and a shared commitment to creating positive outcomes for residents, businesses, and our students. We especially value our positive working relationship with Mayor Sendroff and the open, thoughtful dialogue that helps us move forward together in support of the entire community.”
The partnership focuses on several initiatives in strengthening town and university collaboration: economic impact analysis, community partnership, workforce alignment and student venture retention.
The collaboration also looks to “increase public communication about university town collaborations.”
Both commission representatives and Quinnipiac senior leadership — Dean Holly Raider, Dr. David Tomczyk, Dr. Mark Gius, Vice President for Facilities and Capital Planning Salvatore Filardi and Vice President Bethany Zemba from the President’s Office — met for a kickoff meeting with a discussion focused on the aforementioned four major areas.
In updated economic impact figures, Quinnipiac noted more than $1.4 billion in total economic activity. This includes $187 million in employee spending, $100 million in student spending and $64 million in direct university purchasing.
“Both parties agreed to deepen collaboration with Dr. Gaius and the Economics Department to produce more regular demographic surveys and economic analyses that can better inform Town planning and development strategy,” according to the report.
Quinnipiac leaders highlighted ongoing but “under-recognized” contributions to the town in discussing community partnership and visibility. Those contributions included funding support for the new Police Activity League, participation in the annual spring cleanup and gardening initiative, and involvement in the Noble Gas project through a land-swap arrangement.
The discussion noted that the university is “heavily engaged” in Hamden’s economic development, but the contributions have “lacked visibility and coordination with the town.”
Over 25,000 Quinnipiac alumni currently live in Connecticut as highlighted in discussing talent retention and workforce alignment was addressed. The number living specifically in Hamden is still under analysis however.
Quinnipiac is examining how to increase the number of graduates living and working locally.
This delved into a discussion on another “underutilized” program: “Their existing for-credit internship pipelines across the Business, Engineering, Communications and Medical Schools, which allow Hamden businesses to host students for project-based work.”
In business development collaboration, the discussion included faculty support for “Concorp’s small-business accelerator and opportunities to integrate university expertise into Town-led programs.”
The final topic of the meeting surrounded student venture retention — focused on barriers preventing young entrepreneurs from remaining in Hamden post graduation.
They noted that those barriers include housing affordability and availability which has been identified “as an impediment to retaining local talent.” The committee notes a clear roadmap is necessary for achievement in the objective.
Moving forward, the committee will meet on a regular basis to “maintain momentum, address barriers collaboratively and ensure the partnership delivers measurable benefits for residents and the business community.”
It is also a future initiative for the partnership to expand to other nearby schools including Yale University, Albertus Magnus College and Southern Connecticut State University.
