Duke University says it will commit more than $200 million to expand economic opportunity in the Triangle. The "HomeGrown" initiative will unfold over the next three years and include a combination of hiring, investing in affordable housing, and spending with local and regional businesses.
More than half of the money, $120 million, will go to increasing partnerships with Triangle-based construction companies. Another $45 million is earmarked for contracting with other local businesses. $38 million will be spent on affordable housing developments and assistance for first-time homebuyers.
The remaining funds will go toward hiring Triangle residents for entry-level roles at the university and hospital, as well as youth internships and an employment program for people who were formerly incarcerated.
"This isn't about Duke doing something for the community — it's Duke recognizing that we are part of the community and we rise or fall together," Ian Brown, Duke Health's chief community health and social impact officer said at a Wednesday media briefing. "HomeGrown reflects what we heard by listening to residents, to employees, and small businesses about what they need most."
Not everyone agrees this commitment is enough to address what some see as an extractive relationship between Duke and the Durham community.
In the past, Duke University has been criticized for not making direct payments to the city, in lieu of not paying property or sales taxes. Other universities like Yale, Princeton, and Brown have made such payments.
Nate Baker is a member of the Durham City Council and has been one of the critics. He says that the new initiative will be beneficial, but it isn't enough to address what he says is an unbalanced relationship between Duke and Durham.
“Some of these things are quite positive,” Baker, an urban planner, said. “(But) I would say that the $200 million number, I don't think it would be controversial to say it's pretty fluffed and exaggerated.”
“Duke is both Durham's largest and wealthiest landowner, and they also benefit by not paying sales or property taxes … even while using city and county services and infrastructure. And so that results essentially in the loss of tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions, of dollars of revenue — to the city of Durham, Durham County, Durham Public Schools — and that places a greater burden on our residents and on our small businesses."
For the past few years, Baker has been part of a grassroots movement called Duke: Respect Durham that advocates for Duke to make permanent annual investments in the community called "payments in lieu of taxes," or PILOTs.
He said he would like to see the university contribute at least $20 million to $30 million per year to the city and county governments, including the Durham Public School System.
Duke officials did not specifically address a PILOT agreement in its panel presentation on Wednesday.
"Over the past several years, we’ve expanded our capacity, engaged deeply with residents and local organizations, and worked to better define the role Duke can play in supporting long-term economic opportunity across Durham and the Triangle," Adam Klein, Duke's associate vice president for economic development, said in a written statement. "HomeGrown represents a clear plan to advance that work in a more coordinated and measurable way.”
Baker, the city council member, said he believes there's several critical steps the university needs to take to foster accountability and transparency with the community. He'd like to see a formal agreement between Duke University and the local government like a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
"Duke is not going to hold themselves accountable to the degree that is necessary. That is going to take the community," Baker said. "That doesn't mean Duke is bad. It just means that they are unsurprisingly, like anybody and everybody does, acting in their own self-interest. And so that's why this really needs to be led by neighbors, by tenants, by workers and by folks on campus; students, professors, staff, alumni."
Duke University plans for its HomeGrown initiative to last until 2029. Klein, Duke's economic development VP, said his team will be coming back to the community annually with updates on how it is progressing.
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