University of Tennessee Institute for Public Service Reports $1.6 Billion Economic Impact
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (PRWEB) November 01, 2017 -- The University of Tennessee system’s source of outreach to government, business and communities – the Institute for Public Service (IPS) – provided assistance in fiscal year 2017 that led to more than $1.6 billion in economic impact for Tennessee.
Through its five agencies, which provide training and technical consulting to state and local governments, businesses and law enforcement, IPS answered close to 30,000 requests for assistance in the last fiscal year. IPS agencies also trained more than 18,600 of its customers in everything from crime scene investigation to county and municipal government operations. Participants from 92 of Tennessee’s 95 counties attended IPS training in fiscal year 2017.
“Our employees are dedicated to the IPS mission of outreach in the public service sector, and that’s evident by the economic impact and training participant numbers we saw last year,” said IPS Vice President Dr. Herb Byrd III. “Thanks to the work of our Center for Industrial Services, many businesses across the state secured multi-million-dollar government contracts, which led to positive economic impacts for counties across the state. The Law Enforcement Innovation Center is offering de-escalation training to law police statewide; and the County Technical Assistance Service, Municipal Technical Advisory Service and Naifeh Center for Effective Leadership are training city, county and state employees to operate efficient and effective governments.”
Byrd is referring to the CIS Procurement Technical Assistance Center, which guides businesses through the government contracting process. Through the assistance of the consultants dedicated to this program, small and veteran-owned businesses secured more than $1.4 billion in contracts last year. One example is a Giles County company that won government contracts more than $111 million.
Susan Robertson, UT Institute for Public Service, http://www.ips.tennessee.edu, (865) 974-8518, [email protected]
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