On a weekly basis, ITGA is proud to publish news from communities and campuses engaged in cutting-edge town-gown work. During the July meeting of ITGA's Outreach Committee, it was agreed "Dateline" is either over-used, sounds too stodgy, or doesn't reflect our important work. Solution: Tap the creative talents within our membership with a contest to rename "Dateline." The prize: $50 off a Boulder conference registration and some personalized ITGA swag. Specs: Submissions to replace "Dateline" don't need to have "ITGA" in the pitch, but should succinctly capture the essence of our connected work and related news. Deadline is August 14. Send ideas to Gary Stewart at Outreach@itga.org. On a related note, if you want to contribute articles or content to the newsletter, contact Beth@itga.org.

Colleagues may have noticed references to our Data Digest in The Chronicle of Higher Education's "Campus as City" report, pages 29 and 32. Many thanks to Janet Lillie and Joelle Brown for Digest development and management, and to many of you who answered survey questions. This is a nice win for ITGA, and hope you can share this with colleagues, i.e. it's always good to toot our horn a little. The Chronicle hopes to enhance its relationship with ITGA, and for starters seeks inputs off this report. It's not classic beach reading, but it is interesting, and if you have time, CHI welcomes inputs by July 31. Please send remarks, suggestions and questions to Beth@itga.org and she will route to our contact at the Chronicle. The Chronicle of Higher Education

A number of Connecticut municipalities use tax breaks or incentives to stimulate growth. But for some, particularly cities like Hartford and New Haven with high tax rates, they can be the literal lifeblood of much of the economic development that occurs within their borders. State law limits municipalities to offering three kinds of optional tax breaks exemptions, abatements and fixed assets but many types of properties and/or developments may qualify for relief. It is not clear how many cities or towns use tax deals because it's not tracked by the state or any other organization. Hartford Business

WalletHub found Seattle to be the 8th-most educated city among the top 150 metro areas in America. The data set is measured across 11 key metrics, ranging from share of adults aged 25 and older with a bachelor's degree or higher to racial education gap to quality of the public-school system, WalletHub says. All of the Top 10 are well known college towns with Ann Arbor, home to the University of Michigan, topping the charts by far. San Jose/Santa Clara, California was second, followed by the greater Washington, D.C. area, Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C. and Madison, Wisconsin. KOMONEWS

If you are already part of our rapidly growing network, thank you! Our members are leading scores of diverse communities and campuses across the U.S. and abroad. Populations and missions vary, but our shared interest are similar, as college towns emerge as go-to places with good economies and a solid quality of life. Within that mix are related challenges and opportunities. If you're not a member, we invite you to join ITGA and gain access to resources on current issues in town and gown including our weekly newsletter, the ITGA ListServe, access to our expansive resource center focusing on best practices and strategies, opportunities to explore the Data Digest reports and receive professional development through our upcoming webinar series and discounted rates to the ITGA 2020 Conference in Boulder, C.O. Send membership inquiries to Susan@itga.org.