Partnership-based research is indeed crucial. That's true for all universities, but especially in rural areas, where we work with organizations that can be large companies.
In our region, it's mining. Because the sector is booming, it just renewed a research partnership agreement for the next seven years in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. The price of gold these days says it all. It's going up, up, up. Other sectors, however, are having more trouble, such as forestry and agriculture, so it depends on the sector.