This week, David Nevins, President and CEO of Nevins & Associates, sat down with Daraius Irani, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Applied Research at Towson University. They discussed how the pandemic will impact Maryland’s economy, the new Towson University Center for Entrepreneurship and more. Below is a condensed version of their conversation:

David Nevins: First, tell me about the organization you head and the services you provide.

Daraius Irani: I’m the Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Applied Research at Towson University. We engage in a variety of activities including supporting the university President's community engagement initiatives and promoting entrepreneurship across Towson University. We’re in the process now of converting the Towson Armory to an entrepreneurship center called Start Up.

We offer continuing education programs and workforce development as well. I also manage research and consulting which involves everything from economic analysis to IT support. While my division supports all of these activities, most people know us for Regional Economic Studies Institute (RESI.)

DN: What is RESI?

DI: RESI is a policy group that provides economic, fiscal impact, and policy analysis to state agencies, nonprofit organizations, and private sector firms. With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve been actively involved in modeling what will happen with Maryland’s economy. We also provide insight and commentary on the data we find.

DN: So, how will the pandemic impact Maryland’s economy?

DI: Today, our analysis is not as positive as we had hoped for. Prior to COVID-19, we predicted flat growth for Maryland's employment. With COVID-19, growth will be at a lower level and we predict to lose 200,000 jobs. Hospitality, airlines, convention centers and other highly challenged industries are not expected to be in full recovery until mid-decade.

The nature of how we work has also been changed. Prior to the pandemic, people would commute to work and we’ve now discovered that many people can successfully work from home. Task oriented work in particular is well suited for work from home. This will likely impact business parks, traditional offices and more.

DN: Work from home doesn’t replace in person collaboration, have you looked into that?

DI: I agree with you on face-to-face interactions being critical. Those interactions are important for not only offices, but also in education. Students need to interact with others and to learn new, diverse perspectives and gain new insights. Zoom does not give you those accidental interactions that spark innovation solutions. There is a huge value to incidental interactions and the creativity it leads to.

I think we will exist in a hybrid situation (working from home and in the office) for years to come. Working remotely also allows people to move to places they couldn’t before while keeping the same job. Task oriented work will likely see a trend in work from home permanently, which many companies see as an opportunity to save money. Many tech companies are predicting that July 2021 will be the earliest people will return to offices.

Before only 10% of people were working from home full time and we predict that number will push up closer to 20% permanently. We also predict that people will move away from the open office concept as it may make people uncomfortable now. Overall, the pandemic will spark many changes in how people work.

DN: Do you have any projects you want to discuss?

DI: We continue to work with the Maryland Department of Environment on the greenhouse gas reduction act. We work with them to analyze the economic impact of changes due to new policies. We’ve been analyzing their policies for the last 12 years and continue to offer new insight. We also continue to support the Maryland Department of Health, as well as the Maryland State Department of Education on early childhood education programs. Overall, we have a wide range of clients and analyze policies.

DN: Tell me more about the new center for entrepreneurship and moving into the renowned Towson Armory.

DI: We’re thrilled. Our space in the armory will be about 20,000 square feet with an open gymnasium and private offices. We launched a cohort based model with six companies that will be working at the new center. The center is intensive and focuses on getting companies ready to raise capital and launch into the broader community.

We want to highlight entrepreneurship and make Towson University a center for entrepreneurship. We currently have two student companies in the program that have been activated into the center. We also offer a student launchpad and an entrepreneurship minor for non-business students, as well as several entrepreneurship clubs. We want to communicate with the student population on who we are and what we provide to hopefully gain more interest.

DN: Anything to add?

DI: RESI has been working with the Maryland Department of Transportation and general services to conduct employee engagement surveys. One of the biggest challenges of working from home is making sure employees are engaged. In these critical times, whether a company uses us or someone else, they should measure employee interest levels and see what their employees' challenges are. I would recommend conducting these surveys to any large organization. We predict one of the biggest challenges post COVID-19 will be retaining employees and conducting these surveys allows employers to be a step ahead.