Duke University announced a $203 million commitment to the local economy over three years, organized into four pillars: employ, build, buy, and invest.
- Duke aims to increase local hiring from 69 to 80 percent of total hires. On construction it will direct $120 million to local contractors. Local purchasing gets $45 million. Affordable housing gets $38 million.
- The university will track and publish progress at homegrown.duke.edu.
The commitments are goals, not contracts. Duke controls its own hiring and contracting decisions. What homegrown.duke.edu will show is whether the numbers move over three years.