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TAMPA, USA -- Haiti Recovery & Development Company (HR&DC), a Tampa, Florida, company whose mantra is: “Dignity for the dead, hope and opportunity for the living,” has entered into a strategic alliance agreement to institute a business incubator and career pathing program with Haiti’s University Lumiere that will ultimately involve 2,500 students, administrators, faculty, thousands of alumni and sponsors designed to provide Haitian businesses with Haitian born and educated talent.

The hybrid business incubator and career pathing program known as “HLab” provides students with unprecedented mentoring from a wide-array of subject matter experts, while exposing them to collaborative academic and professional opportunities with the most committed individuals and organizations from within Haiti and the international community.

HR&DC CEO Jim Lange said of the program, “The objective is to institute a transformative, entrepreneurial-centric business incubator and career pathing program combining the talents of HR&DC delegates, University Lumiere administrators and faculty members, students, alumni and members of the broader entrepreneurial community into one organic team. Though the HLab program is designed specifically to meet the needs of Haiti, the philosophical underpinnings of the program pays direct homage to results achieved by Bell Laboratories research and development facilities from the 1920’s through the 2000’s. Bell Labs set the standard for cumulative intellectual excellence and this is the mindset we will attempt to replicate. And while the ultimate aim of Bell Labs was to transform new knowledge into new things, my goal is to transform new knowledge into new outcomes through new leaders.”

University Lumiere founder and president Jeune Jean-Chavannes said of the strategic alliance partnership and HLab program, “I have always believed that the University (Lumiere) has three main responsibilities with its students. One is to academically train the students in their given field. Two is to prepare them (emotionally, morally and spiritually) for life outside of the classroom. Three is to instill a sense of community service. As I see it, the program that is being instituted by HR&DC will help the students become better employees and employers. It will also allow them to see, seek and seize opportunities. We are honored that Jim Lange has selected University Lumiere as his first academic partner in Haiti and we look forward to helping institute this program in other universities throughout Haiti.”

The business incubator and career pathing program will provide the following benefits to each respective participant:

• HR&DC: The aggregation of an unprecedented pool of intellectual capital that can be transformed into dynamic, long-term “solutions teams” for HR&DC initiatives.

• University Lumiere: Become recognized as a “best in class” university, graduating students who are better prepared for life as working professionals.

• Students: Become more skilled and marketable individuals, gaining an advantage over professional rivals with potential employers, or as entrepreneurs.

• Business Community: Access to HLab’s brightest minds for potential employment and/or entrepreneurial opportunities.

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