Multi-year Partnership Supports Revitalization in Northeast Spokane

Students gather in an alley for a class.
Students work to actively revitalize a historic Spokane neighborhood
October 21, 2025
The Center for Community Engagement

The Northeast Public Development Authority (NEPDA) established an innovative, multi-year partnership with Gonzaga University's School of Business Administration that reimagines how students engage with real-world community development challenges. Through the BUSN 470 Multidiscipline Action Project Class, students work directly with NEPDA leadership on active revitalization initiatives in Spokane's historic Hillyard neighborhood.

Unlike traditional academic projects with defined beginnings and endings, this partnership employs a "relay" model where each semester's cohort advances ongoing initiatives before passing their work to the next group. Students inherit research, data and insights from their predecessors, contribute their own analysis and recommendations, and prepare materials for future teams. This structure mirrors professional project lifecycles while providing NEPDA with continuous, fresh perspectives on complex challenges ranging from Market Street business district revitalization to strategic planning and targeted demographic outreach.

Recent student contributions include comprehensive market research, development of AI-assisted knowledge management systems, multi-year business survey frameworks, and college student engagement strategies. The partnership serves dual purposes: preparing students for collaborative, iterative work environments while delivering actionable insights that inform NEPDA's strategic investments in one of Spokane's most historically significant – and economically challenged – communities.

“Our work with NEPDA is but one example of how our students and faculty are engaged in the broader community,” said Ken Anderson, the dean of the School of Business Administration. “We have to be involved outside the business school and projects like these provide our students so many learning and life experiences.”

Through this relationship, students gain exposure to the intersection of economics, policy, marketing, community development and urban planning, while NEPDA leverages academic rigor and student creativity to advance its mission of catalyzing sustainable economic growth in Northeast Spokane.

Learn more about the University's efforts to connect with the greater Spokane community
Community Engagement