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Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh and William Paterson University President Richard Helldobler teamed together Wednesday to announce the start of Propel Paterson, a partnership to support the city’s revitalization through learning, research, and action.

The Propel Paterson initiative will begin Feb. 15 with a conference including city leaders, and William Paterson University faculty and administrators. It will lead to developing a blueprint for sponsored faculty research and community redevelopment projects. Propel Paterson will examine opportunities in health care, education, business, social services, arts, culture and tourism.

“Paterson is ready for a renaissance,” Sayegh said. “A partnership with William Paterson will help bring that to fruition. To say that I am proud would be an understatement.”

“William Paterson and the city of Paterson share a long history dating back to 1855 when our institution began as the Paterson City Normal School to train teachers for the emerging free public schools of Paterson,” Helldobler said. “Since then, and continuing through 1951, the university continued to partner with Paterson on a wide variety of initiatives ranging from our deep involvement in the Paterson Public Schools, the Small Business Development Center, our partnership with the Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park, and various civic engagement projects with a wide variety of Paterson organizations.”

Vincent Parrillo, a professor of sociology and director of the Paterson Metropolitan Region Research Center at William Paterson University, described the center and the university as supporting interdisciplinary learning. The mission of the center is to stimulate research among faculty members and students about the history of Paterson, its relevance to all citizens, regardless of where they live, Parrillo said. The university is paying for the conference.

“Our second mission is to serve as a conduit for that research,” Parrillo said.

Michael Powell, director of economic development for the municipality of Paterson, said this type of partnership helps cities foster economic development.

“In a city like Paterson where 90 percent of our population has a high school degree or lower, leaving 10 percent of the population with a college degree or beyond, the time is now to address the educational inequalities that are here,” Powell said. “By having a partner like William Paterson University commit the entire university to the city is truly remarkable.”