Anchor Institutions Research Articles

The dominant cybersecurity industry clusters: evolution and sustainment

ABSTRACT Three mega-clusters dominate the cybersecurity industry: the San Francisco Bay Area, the Washington D.C. area and Israel. Together they are home to about half the influential cybersecurity firms; they have remained dominant since industry take-off in the 1990s. How have they remained dominant? We answer this question by synthesizing firm-level data, case studies, and interviews, compiling an extensive history of their evolution; then using a Geographic Information System to map these clusters. Applying the Menzel and Fornahl cluster lifecycle model, we find these clusters advanced into the Growth (2nd) stage but have not reached an equilibrium state. The model points to heterogeneity as key to avoiding cluster weakening through lock-in. Three vectors of heterogeneity explain how these clusters remain dominant: The absence of a de facto standard design, spatial expansion, and the ever-increasing cyber-threat landscape. Additionally, powerful anchor institutions are present in two of the three clusters.

Finding rural community resilience: Understanding the role of anchor institutions

Across Europe there is evidence that rural space has become more highly desired than before the pandemic as urban dwellers escaped to the perceived safety of the countryside. Whether or not this is a permanent trend remains to be seen, but it has brought to the fore the diversity of rural space, with some places faring much better than others. Indeed, with increased attention on so called ‘left behind’ places, the question of why some communities are resilient seems pertinent. Relatedly, why is it that others remain marginalised in terms education and health outcomes, economy, amenities and quality of life. Change can arise from longer-term issues such as economic restructuring or austerity, or it could be due to a sharper shock such as the pandemic or the exit of the UK from the EU (Brexit). And yet the reason behind uneven responses is not fully understood. This article examines how rural communities deal with challenges arising from change and the role of different organisations in this process. Drawing from extensive empirical evidence from a study based in England, the article identifies key traits of a resilient rural community. The research reveals that the process of resilience is not something that can be easily pinned down, nor is it a matter that is ever finished. It shows how the specificity of place, including the existence of anchor institutions, can enhance community resilience. In a rural context, a network of local institutions scaffold together to create an anchor network. Co-existence is therefore a key component of rural community resilience as it provides a range of important resources that is not solely reliant on a single organisation. Wider socio-economic context including deliberative state action also plays a role. But even so, the loss of resources, such as reduced public spending (austerity), does not actually mean a community will wither. Crucially the extent to which a community can move beyond survival seems to be limited in places without a range of anchors.

An Expanded Vision of the Value of Postsecondary Education: Regional Public Universities as Broadly Accessible Anchor Institutions

An Expanded Vision of the Value of Postsecondary Education: Regional Public Universities as Broadly Accessible Anchor Institutions

Community wealth building in an age of just transitions: Exploring civil society approaches to net zero and future research synergies

Community Wealth Building (CWB) is a burgeoning international policy agenda for local economic development that seeks to enhance democratic ownership, retain the benefits of local economic activity and empower place-based economies and workers. Parallel to this, in the context of net zero transitions, there has been increasing interest in approaches to enhancing civil society and community ownership over local energy provision. However, in academic and practitioner debates, there has been very little interaction between these two strands of thinking and action on the need for radical change in current energy provision, particularly as part of a wider transformative change away from dominant neoliberal economic thinking, policies and structures.In this Perspective, we explore the various ways in which synergies exist between CWB and energy transitions by considering two civil society approaches to transitions; namely, the Thousand Flowers transition pathway and research in Grassroots Innovations. We examine how community energy could be strengthened through CWB, by showing how the ideas within these two approaches respond to the five core principles of CWB. Promising future directions for research and practice are identified, including linking up CWB and just transitions strategies, a renewed focus on local financial innovation and the growing role of anchor institutions in supporting net zero transitions, particularly where CWB supports economic democracy transformations in new net zero economies.

Where are the police in urban governance? Three investigations of police, planning, and governance in central Atlanta

ABSTRACT Urban governance theories frequently overlook policing, despite current controversies surrounding police. To help fill this gap, I investigate how urban governance institutions may influence police work. My intervention centers around the crucial point that “the police” are a diverse multiplicity of agencies, whereas previous studies on the relationship between urban governance institutions and police institutions focus on one or two agencies, usually municipal police. I direct attention to the diversity of police in central Atlanta: 11 fully sworn agencies, two private security forces employed by community improvement districts, and the common regulatory practices that are fundamentally police though not commonly discussed as such in urban studies. I use frameworks from Law & Society research on jurisdiction to analyze data from roughly one year of fieldwork on three commonly studied urban governance institutions: neighborhood planning units, community improvement districts, and university-led “anchor institution” development partnerships. I show how these agencies coordinate the public and police(s), convene diverse police elites, or foster the expectation of police caretaking. Governance institutions provide legitimate forums for police communications. This activity helps the complicated and contradictory multiplicity of police seem coherent and obscures policing’s violent contradictions, ultimately helping define the bounds of a community.

Racial and Community Wealth Disparity the Bane of HBCUs - A Wealth Ecology Model Relational Perspective

Racial wealth disparities in the U.S. continues to persist despite community, state and federal governments programs to arrest the slide. Contemporary community wealth creation approaches using anchor institutions concepts to bridge the gap assume the wealth improvement duality of the community and the anchor institution coming together with external agents of support. For an HBCU (Historical Black Colleges and Universities) as anchor institution, the improvement duality assumption links its fortunes with that of its community served. The study performs a regression analysis to determine the degree of the relationship and its direction. Measured African American family wealth status using the SCF data on median US household wealth and HBCU school choice by annual enrollment numbers from NCES digest of educational statistics, the analysis yields significant positive effects of student wealth status on HBCU school choice.

Growing health: Building partnerships in healthcare and food systems for improved food access in Appalachia

Hospitals not only provide access to healthcare services in rural areas; they also serve as major employers and economic drivers. The goal of this pilot study was to improve our understanding of how a rural healthcare system in Appalachian Kentucky could be leveraged to expand access to fresh fruits and vegetables. We conducted 11 semi-structured interviews with food system and healthcare stakeholders in Hazard, Kentucky, to (1) improve our understanding of key barriers to accessing and utilizing fresh produce for healthcare worker and patient populations, (2) identify models for direct-to-consumer market channels and farm-to-institution programming in collaboration with a local hospital, and (3) explore the potential of those models to foster greater consumption of fruit and vegetables among community members. Stakeholders emphasized the need for staff support and funding during program development and discussed the difficulty in maintaining prior local food and health promotion efforts when pilot funding expired. Other considerations included the importance of community ownership, robust communication and coordination among stakeholders, and attunement to the opportunities and challenges of a hospital-based approach. Direct farm-to-consumer models were considered feasible but would require accommodation for low-income consumers, such as vouchers, sliding-scale payment methods, or “double dollar” programs. Farm-to-hospital initiatives were discussed in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and reduced hospital cafeteria usage, which may limit the success of some events but highlights the potential for to-go options such as pre-prepared salads, lightly processed snacks, and medically tailored meal kits. Results of this study illustrate the challenges and opportunities of leveraging a rural hospital as an anchor institution for expanding local food system development in rural Appalachia. This study also offers insights into the intersections of health, culture, and economy in an Appalachian community, and provides a framework for expanding local food system initiatives.

What side of town? How proximity to critical survival factors affects rural business longevity

AbstractThis research adds to the literature on locational determinants of business survival by focusing on an establishment's proximity to fixed assets. Using longitudinal, establishment‐level data from rural counties in the Midwestern United States, we developed a hazard model to estimate the likelihood of rural businesses surviving the Great Recession and the recovery that followed (2007–2017). Two critical survival factors are of principal interest: proximity to a pre‐automobile era downtown business district and proximity to a limited‐access highway ramp. The results suggest that highway proximity enhances survival for manufacturing, transportation, and wholesaling establishments, as does own‐industry agglomeration. For food, retail, and accommodation businesses, proximity to cultural anchor institutions enhances the probability of survival but competitive effects, including downtown proximity, reduce the likelihood of survival. On its own, proximity to a downtown was not associated with higher odds of business survival.

Faith and race: how African American pastors navigate dialectical tensions in collaboration

ABSTRACT The African American church (AAC) is an anchor institution in disinvested communities. Retrenchment of government support has increased the need for AAC collaborative activity. Given this need, we interviewed 10 African American pastors (AAP) in Little Rock, Arkansas, a city with a long history of racial division. This purposeful sample is embedded in a longitudinal community-engaged research project that began in 2012 in order to understand and improve collaboration across congregations. This goal of this analysis was to understand the power dynamics of AAP communication in collaborative contexts. Using a critical race approach to dialectical tensions, we identified four tension framing practices: (a) dependency-independency through selection and paradox; (b) spiritual-physical through authoritative texts; (c) collaboration–non-collaboration through inclusion-exclusion; and (d) the past-present through Civil Rights icons. These findings extend theory and research by illustrating how race and faith shape collaborative processes that contribute and constrain community development praxis.

Hospital Reflections on Community Relationships in the Time of Covid

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals and their staffs have been pushed to (and sometimes beyond) the limits of their capacities. As community organizations, often serving in an anchor institution role, hospitals are typically seen as supporting the needs of those around them, but the demands of the pandemic have challenged their ability to do so. In qualitative data collection regarding for-profit hospitals’ community relationship, collection that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, participants made regular and frequent references to the ways in which the pandemic shaped interactions with community members, with staff, and with other community organizations. This paper examines the themes that emerged regarding COVID-19’s influence on hospital-community relationships. Participants were recruited from the leadership of for-profit hospital facilities, systems, and interest groups. Researchers interviewed 28 participants in various leadership roles via telephone or video conferencing. Interviews were thematically coded upon reception of interview transcriptions, and preliminary findings guided forthcoming interviews. Three themes emerged regarding COVID-19’s influence on hospital-community relationships: a new focus on inter-organizational outreach and engagement; the necessity of partnering and identification of new ways to engage; and a focus on social and cultural factors. Hospitals may well be able to use lessons learned throughout the pandemic, including the importance of meeting the needs of their own staff and the advantages of developing partnerships with other community organizations, to better respond to community needs, not only in times of crisis but to improve day-to-day experiences of community members.

Motivations of potential anchor businesses to support community development and community health.

Some for-profit businesses act like non-profit anchor institutions in contributing to community development, particularly health-related initiatives. Their motives are not well understood. We aimed to 1) identify and describe potential anchor businesses, 2) determine their motivations to contribute to community development, and 3) highlight motivations behind health-related initiatives. We identified a national sample of potential anchor businesses, grouped by those that contributed to 1) both health-related and non-health initiatives, 2) non-health initiatives only, and 3) those without substantial contributions. We conducted an environmental scan, semi-structured qualitative interviews and directed content analysis through rapid review methodology. We identified 4,512 potential anchor businesses nationally. Among the 108 of these included in the environmental scan, 48% substantially contributed to community development (12% in health). Interviewees' company philosophies ranged from the idea that economic well-being of the company and community were intertwined, to the idea that commercial success of the company would benefit the community. Motivations for contributions included improving the hiring pool, improved recruitment and retention, and goodwill. Other common sentiments included strategies to focus on core business strengths to address community needs and a desire that companies should not compete in their giving activities. Further, some participants believed health care companies should be investing in health-related initiatives. The generosity of potential anchor businesses' local contributions may be determined by company philosophy about its relationship with the community. Stakeholders interested in spurring contributions to local communities might consider messaging to leverage businesses' core strengths and encourage cooperation.

For-profit hospitals could play a distinctive role as anchor institutions.

Hospitals have a longstanding presence in United States communities and contribute to economic development and community well-being through widespread employment, purchasingand direct community engagement. Most of the data on anchor institutions to date, however, has focused on nonprofit organisations, especially nonprofit hospitals, colleges and universities. The aim of this study is to better understand if for-profit hospitals engage in explicit anchor activities, and whether these organisations adopt unique strategies in carrying out this study. We used an inductive, qualitative approach to understand how for-profit hospitals perceive their anchoring efforts as distinct as compared to nonprofits. We conducted in-depth interviews with 23 hospital leaders, researchersand members of advocacy organisations, representing 11 different hospital organisations and 10 communities; and used thematic analysis to generate study findings. For-profit hospitals do see at least three primary differences that render them distinctive in their efforts to anchor themselves within their communities-namely, barriers that for-profits encounter that nonprofits may not; their emphasis on strategic and synergistic practices; and their status as hospitals that also support their communities economically as tax-paying entities. With a better understanding of their unique contributions as for-profit organisations, policymakers can identify ways to leverage these hospitals to support their communities through outreach and engagement.

Communities with an anchor institution have higher coronavirus vaccination rates.

Anchor institutions ("anchors") are large employers, rooted in a community by reason of mission, capital, or relationships. Many anchors have encouraged coronavirus vaccination for employees and their families. Our objective was to determinewhether the presence of an anchor was associated with a higher county-level vaccination rate. A cross-sectional study focused on 745 small- and mid-sized US counties. We used data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Reference USA's US Business Database, Economic Innovation Group's Distressed Communities Index database, 2021 County Health Ratings and Rankings, 2020 US Presidential Election popular vote data, and National Center for Health Statistics urban-rural classification data. We constructed 3 explanatory variables of interest: a binary variable indicating whether the county had an anchor; a continuous variable representing the number of anchors within a county; and the percent of all workers in the county who were employed by an anchor. Multivariable linear regression models were adjusted for race/ethnicity, political party allegiance, rurality, economic distress, and prevalence of smoking and adult obesity. Counties with an anchor had vaccination rates 2.31 (P<.01) percentage points higher than those without an anchor. The number of anchors in a county was also significantly associated with higher vaccination rates. Efforts by anchors to encourage vaccination may have been successful, and that anchors may be well positioned to amplify public health messages. However, the influence and efforts of anchors to increase vaccination did not fully mitigate disparities in vaccination rates by race, ethnicity, and political party allegiance.

Anchored or Detached? A Student Commentary on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at Urban Institutions

In 2020, Americans witnessed the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately impact the most minoritized groups. Concurrently, the innumerable police killings of Black Americans re-ignited racial justice protests across the world. As a result, students, faculty, and staff observed a rapid push by administrations to enact diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and commit to creating more equitable and inclusive climates. Since higher education's inception, urban anchor institutions have played an integral role in the political, social, and economic well-being of their surrounding communities. After 2020, as the distance between universities and their surrounding communities continues to expand, it’s as critical as ever for urban and metropolitan universities to dismantle the pervasive inequities that torment their students and surrounding communities. Although numerous anchor institutions have expressed their commitment to DEI initiatives in recent years, minoritized students, faculty, and staff continue to face systemic barriers to academic and professional achievement and overall well-being. Given this discrepancy, we, four graduate students from an urban anchor institution, were invited to provide recommendations for universities to dismantle inequities and provide a more inclusive, anti-racist environment for its students. As such, we address three concerns: increasing the diversity of faculty and staff, correcting housing and medical injustices of the past, and remodeling campus safety and policing. Our commentary also provides actionable steps for urban anchor universities to address these challenges, particularly for minoritized students and communities.

Community Engagement at Academic Health Centers

Academic health centers are essential in many communities, providing health professions education and patient-focused services. These institutions often serve as anchor institutions for community-engaged efforts to serve underserved populations. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the central nature of academic health centers, and the well-being of communities, were on full display. This special issue aims to contribute to and expand our understanding and inform empirically the evidence-based programming, interventions, and policies that strengthen community engagement at academic health centers.

Lessons to Build an Educational Model for Higher Education Institutions Defined as Anchor Institutions to Tackle Public Health Crises: A Pilot Study on COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Among Faculty and Students in Hebert L. College in the Bronx, NY.

Coronavirus disease 2019 exacerbated health inequities in Bronx Communities. This study explored vaccine hesitancy among a random sample of faculty and students from Hebert Lehman College. Findings suggest faculty are largely vaccinated (87%), while 59% of students are unvaccinated. Significant gaps in information were found related to safety and complications. This suggests universities need to adopt an educational model with a multipronged social support strategy to gain students' trust and a greater sense of belonging.

Leveraging Community-Driven Anchor Activities Among US For-Profit Hospitals

Hospitals have the ability to serve as anchor institutions that not only provide clinical care but make important community investments through employment, and outreach, and engagement efforts that address the social determinants of health. In doing so, hospitals may partner with community members and community-based organizations, but the extent to which local residents participate in directing local investments varies across organizations. This study looks at the role of hospitals as anchor institutions and the best practices for leveraging community participation in planning investments to improve social and economic health in communities. We used an inductive, qualitative approach to understand the incentives hospitals have to anchor themselves within their communities and how best practices can be leveraged. We conducted 28 in-depth interviews with 27 hospital leaders and personnel, and one interview with a member of a for-profit hospital advocacy organization. Drawing on thematic analysis, three primary themes were identified as critical to leveraging community-driven anchor activities: strong and intentional community-oriented leadership; direct community involvement; and non-regulatory incentives, including incentive programs. The more institutions, organizations, communities, and individuals expect community-oriented anchor activities from hospitals, the more likely they are to engage in such activities. Critical to this work is ensuring that community members themselves are able to help direct the investments of hospitals in alignment with community health needs. Community stakeholders, including elected officials, public health offices, and policymakers, have important leverage in creating expectations for hospitals to engage in anchor activities and facilitate community-based partnerships as a part of this process.

Transforming Institutions to Connect Land and Water for Healthy Communities

ABSTRACTInterconnected global environmental and societal risks threaten the health of human and ecological communities. Institutions are avenues through which people can mobilize to respond, but institutional landscapes are fragmented. We focus on the need for institutional change in environmental management and water services to better connect land and water in the United States. Using a historical institutionalist approach and insights from sustainability transitions research, we analyze four diverse examples of connecting land and water occurring across public and private institutions where people are putting innovative perspectives and principles into practice: National Environmental Policy Act, Engineering with Nature®; Water Utilities as Anchor Institutions, and Growing Water Smart. Comparative analysis of these examples focuses on the particular risks these institutions are responding to, how each connects land and water to promote healthy communities, the institutional transformations that are occurring, how problems are being reframed, how leadership and mobilization are driving change, what tools help bridge multiple boundaries, and what new ways of knowing and action strategies are emerging. Our examples focus on transformations within and between institutions in recognition of their importance for driving larger system change. Findings reinforce previous research on the critical role of human agency and boundary spanning in facilitating and steering sustainability transitions.

The university as a Just anchor: universities, anchor networks and participatory research

ABSTRACT In this paper, we connect literature on civic universities and anchor institutions with the notion of visibility to explore how universities can play more engaged roles in their areas. We introduce the concept of ‘just anchors’, which are institutions with strategies to achieve local social, economic and epistemic justice goals through collaboration in networks of other anchors and knowledge co-production with citizens. This paper is based on data from USE-IT!, an ERDF-funded programme that developed mechanisms to build social resilience in inner-city wards of Birmingham, the second-largest city in England. Our findings show that co-production empowers citizens, and that universities are well-placed to facilitate and benefit from the outputs of this process. Based on the experience of delivering a community researcher training scheme, we reflect on the potential of universities to be more visible to, and facilitate the visibility of, marginalised groups, introducing a new theoretical concept into the literature on universities as anchor institutions. We also draw further lessons from USE-IT! to offer practice-based recommendations to other universities seeking to activate their role as just anchors.

Beyond procurement: Anchor institutions and adaptations for resilience

According to prior research, local food purchases at anchor institutions (AIs) support community development and food system resilience. AIs are placed-based organizations, such as schools, uni­versi­ties, and hospitals, that support their commu­nities by virtue of their mission. The COVID-19 pan­demic presents a unique opportunity to exam­ine how these institutions can support food system resilience during a period of increasing food inse­curity and supply chain disruptions. This study uses mixed methods, including interview and survey data, to investigate how foodservice operations at New England AIs adapted to COVID-19 and sup­ported local food systems throughout the pan­demic. The findings demonstrate that AIs experi­enced shortages of everyday food items among their broadline distributors—large, national distrib­utors that carry a wide variety of food products. However, AIs adapted to these shortages and found alternate sources for these products thanks to mutually beneficial relationships with local pro­ducers. Having relationships with both local and national distributors was an important source of functional redundancy within institutional food supply chains, reducing institutions’ reliance on a single supplier and enhancing their resilience. This finding suggests that local purchasing relationships help AIs adapt to systemic disruptions, further incentivizing farm-to-institution programs. This study also found that AIs engaged in a wide array of food access initiatives during the pandemic, including pop-up grocery stores and serving free or reduced-price meals. These initiatives supported staff members and communities through food shortages and increased food insecurity. We sug­gest that these diverse food access initiatives, some of which were created in response to COVID-19 and many of which were in place before the pan­demic, are an accessible way for AIs to support food system resilience in capacities beyond procurement.