The Knowledge Corridor is not only the name by which the combined geography of the metro areas of Springfield, MA, Hartford, CT and New Haven, CT are known, it also represents an economic development partnership of both public and private institutions that are committed to utilizing the region’s unique assets to promote economic growth. Historically joined together by the Connecticut River and today by the infrastructure of Interstate 91, Bradley International Airport and the new high speed commuter rail system, the area shares a rich history of economic innovation that the partnership seeks to continue. From Eli Whitney, a Yale graduate who invented the cotton gin, to Hartford’s Samuel Colt, who invented a revolver mechanism that enabled a gun to be fired multiple times without reloading, to Springfield’s Charles and Frank Duryea who in 1893 developed the first commercially produced gasoline powered automobile, The Knowledge Corridor has been a center of economic innovation since the United States was founded. It continues on that path today as the area is home to some of the finest colleges and universities in the world along with cutting edge manufacturing, technology and biotech firms that seek to take advantage of one of the most skilled and highly educated workforces anywhere.