In the October 16, 2006 Issue:

Copyright State Science & Technology Institute 2006. Redistribution to all others interested in tech-based economic development is strongly encouraged — please cite the State Science & Technology Institute whenever portions are reproduced or redirected.

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 Venture Capital Fund for North Carolina Research Campus Doubles to $200M
The venture capital fund investing in biotechnology companies that locate to the North Carolina Research Campus is doubling its holdings to $200 million. This substantial increase is a result of a donation provided by David Murdock, the billionaire businessman and owner of Castle and Cooke Inc. who also provided the initial $100 million to start the fund. The venture capital fund is an integral component of the $1.5 billion biotechnology hub being constructed in Kannapolis, N.C. 
 
Located between Charlotte and the Research Triangle, Kannapolis is a city of 39,000 residents that was heavily impacted by the bankruptcy of the Pillowtex textile corporation in 2003. The subsequent closing of the local manufacturing facility laid off 4,300 employees in Kannapolis, alone, part of the largest permanent layoff in the history of North Carolina.
 
Construction of a main component of the research campus has already begun on the site of the demolished textile factory complex. The building to house much of the campus core laboratory and equipment space is expected to be completed in 2007, and tenants for the building have already been announced. Attracting a critical mass of companies is a goal to attain long-term viability for the campus.
 
The venture capital fund anticipates spending $12 million to $15 million a year, geared towards early-stage companies close to starting clinical trials. According to Clyde Higgs, who oversees the fund for the campus, about $3 million to $5 million will be available per company for several businesses each year. Any future returns from these investments would be retained by Castle and Cook Inc. In addition to biotech companies, institutional partners such as Duke University, UNC Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State University are collaborating with the biotech campus. The project aims to attract 100 companies of different sizes and stages of development to the 350-acre development.
 
The main website of the North Carolina Research Campus is http://www.ncresearchcampus.net/

A previous Digest story detailing the main components of the biotechnology campus plan can be found at: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/2005/091905.htm#NorthCarolina

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Register for SSTI's 10th Annual Conference!
The registration form, program and additional conference information are available at http://www.ssti.org/conference06.htm.

Milken Report Provides Suggestions for Better Biotech Funding
In a time of tightening budgets and funding shortfalls, many institutions are searching for innovative sources of capital to finance their investment needs. Financial Innovations for Accelerating Medical Solutions, a recent report from the Milken Institute, provides some insight on inventive ways to raise capital for the biotechnology industry. 
 
Milken convened two workshops in the fall of 2005, one in Santa Monica and one in New York City, of various stakeholders in the drug development process. These workshops included patent brokers and intellectual property lawyers, private equity investors and analysts, insurance consultants, biotechnology entrepreneurs, academics, and members of foundations. The report decries the lack of venture capital for early-stage product investments, especially between the preclinical and clinical stages of development.
 
Six main recommendations are provided to reduce credit risk, attract investors, and accelerate commercialization in a broad range of disease areas:

The report states that since only about 5 percent of innovations have any commercialization value, a large portfolio of early-stage projects may increase confidence and funding, as compared to financing a single project. Much attention is given to the concept of securitization, or the clustering of assets that can be sold as a security or some other type of structured finance. Since the royalties over time from this diverse collection of pooled resources may be better estimated, the portfolio can then be turned into a marketable security to attain capital.
 
Besides those recommendations intended to minimize risk, other recommendations attempt to create a market for pharmaceutical products by using pull mechanisms such as advanced purchasing by governments and foundations, and donor bonds that create immediate financing based upon future stream of payments. But the report also cautions that some pull systems might not finance the most effective cure for diseases, as the funding system rewards the first solution to the market. There also exists the potential for corruption, as governments choose certain companies to participate in advanced purchasing.
 
The report may be downloaded from Milken's website upon free registration at:
http://www.milkeninstitute.org/publications/publications.taf?function=detail&ID=580&cat=finlab

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Maximize Your Professional Development Dollars with Pre-conference Options
On Oct. 31, SSTI will offer four exciting options as pre-conference activities. Registration is separate from the full conference fee.

Transforming a Regional Economy: Moving Forward Together
How does a medium-sized city in a small state accomplish big things? How was a down-at-the-heels tract of urban landscape transformed into a 27-acre research park featuring a seven-building complex with 600,000 sq. ft. of Class A wet lab space and a 97 percent occupancy rate? How did the city convince its citizens to support one of the largest capital improvement projects in the country one that has already yielded more than $2.4 billion in public and private investment? This full-day session will provide answers and insights from the key players in the initiatives that have radically transformed the face of the community.

In the morning, participants will travel to the Presbyterian Health Foundation Research Park. The complex's master plan calls for the construction of 10 buildings, raising the total research and office space to more than 1 million sq. ft. Working in cooperation with federal, state and local agencies, the park is a collaborative alliance including businesses, government and higher education. It is strategically located near the Oklahoma Health Center to create a synergism of research science and commercialization. Through interactive sessions with the city and states bioscience leadership, participants will learn the inside story of how vision, leveraging resources, and a spirit of collaboration resulted in one of the most important economic drivers in central Oklahoma.

Following lunch at the Research Park, participants will depart for a tour of Oklahoma City's MAPS projects. Guided by former Oklahoma City mayor Kirk Humphreys, the tour will highlight the new and upgraded sports, recreation, entertainment, cultural and convention facilities funded through MAPS. The projects began in 1993, when voters approved the MAPS sales tax, and were completed in 2004. Oklahoma City is the first city in the country to undertake a public facility enhancement project of this size. All projects are now complete and paid off.

As a result of MAPS, downtown Oklahoma City has seen more than $2.5 billion in new public and private development. The initial investment has spurred millions of dollars in additional development, filling in voids and redeveloping underutilized land as housing, mixed use offices, and arts and entertainment facilities. MAPS was the catalyst for dramatically changing public perception and improving quality of life in downtown, which has developed into a vibrant 24/7 community with places to live, work and play.

Turning Innovations into Enterprises: A Practitioner's Guide to Technology Commercialization
A name and face familiar to many SSTI members, Dr. Randy Goldsmith, president of the Mississippi Technology Alliance, brings his internationally popular technology commercialization workshop to this years SSTI pre-conference in a half-day format especially designed for TBED professionals. The Goldsmith Technology Commercialization Model has been adopted by NASA and by economic development organizations in the United Kingdom, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky and elsewhere.

Through this interactive workshop, Dr. Goldsmith will introduce you to assessment tools, a step-by-step process and financing resources that can help your clients achieve their business objectives. You will identify key milestones, ask critical questions, estimate costs, and determine an entrepreneur's strengths and weaknesses. Based on his extensive technology commercialization experience in the private, public and university sectors, Dr. Goldsmith will share proven strategies and practical tools to help your regions entrepreneurs turn technology innovations into successful enterprises.

TBED Program Evaluation: An Introduction
One of the hallmarks of effective TBED programs is that they evaluate what they do. But to do evaluation properly, you must consider why you are evaluating, what you are evaluating, and how best to do it. What tools and methods will generate the most appropriate and reliable metrics? What metrics are viable indicators of positive performance, and how should they be presented in order to have the most meaning for key stakeholders?

In this half-day session, we'll examine those basic but critical questions and consider approaches that some of the leading programs have used to evaluate their effectiveness and impact. Cathy Renault, program manager of technology-based economic development with RTI International in Research Triangle Park, N.C., will lead participants in this discussion of performance metrics fundamentals a good course for those new to TBED and a good refresher for anyone on how to successfully deal with a perennial challenge of TBED program management.

Introduction to Tech-based Economic Development
Gaining a good understanding of tech-based economic development (TBED) the approaches, vital elements, effective strategies, successful programs, proven policies, and important lessons learned from failures will make your efforts in the field more rewarding. Attendance is always limited to a small group to ensure each participant benefits from the personalized session walking away with a firm foundation for SSTI's full conference and for their TBED responsibilities back home.

In a format that is engaging, educational and enjoyable, participants will discover proven programs and policies for creating technology companies, financing high-tech firms, commercializing technology, and developing productive university-industry partnerships. Attend the session to find out what your peers and colleagues in successful communities and states are doing to build tech-based economies.

The session is led by two of the top names in our field: SSTI President and CEO Dan Berglund and Marsha Schachtel, senior fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies at Johns Hopkins University. If you're new to the field, there is no better way to prepare for the caliber of discussion and content at SSTI's 10th Annual Conference than to attend this full-day, highly interactive workshop examining the fundamental elements of successful tech-based economic development.

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Rhode Island to Host Statewide Robotics Challenge
Starting next year, every Rhode Island high school student will be able to participate in the Vex Challenge, an international robotics competition that gives students firsthand experience with project management and engineering. A coalition of education and science and technology advocates, led by the nonprofit Business Innovation Factory, will cover the costs to schools and funding for an annual statewide tournament beginning in 2007. Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri has endorsed the program, which he calls an important part of our plan for educating Rhode Islands next generation of science, technology, and engineering leaders.
 
FIRST, a nonprofit STEM organization founded in 1989 by Segway-inventor Dean Kamen, began the Vex Challenge last year as a spinoff of its advanced competition for college students and professional engineers. Students are issued a basic robotics kit and set about designing a robot that will complete certain basic tasks, such as placing balls in goals or racing towards a finish line. At the statewide tournament, participating teams go head-to-head and score points by completing these tasks. Kits can be reused year after year, minimizing the cost to schools. The Challenge program lets students put their math and science knowledge to work and introduces them to future opportunities in robotics and engineering by teaming them with mentors from local colleges and universities. Gov. Carcieri has announced that the competition will be incorporated into the states new STEM curriculum standards.
 
In recent years, Rhode Island STEM leaders have had a difficult time encouraging students to pursue science and engineering degrees. Though New England as a whole increased its number of advanced science and engineering graduates by 11 percent during the 1990s, Rhode Island suffered a 15 percent drop. The states share of degrees issued in science and engineering remains the lowest in New England and below the national average.
 
Though more than 130 teams participated in the inaugural 2005-06 season, Rhode Island is the first state to provide financial support for teams in all of its high schools. The state is hoping to leverage its small size and increase its national profile by marketing Rhode Island's manageability as a testbed for innovative programs such as the Vex Challenge. All 67 of the states public and charter schools, as well as its career and technical centers, will be able to participate. The coalition will seek support from business and community sponsors to cover the total cost of the program, which is estimated at $140,000. FIRST, the Business Innovation Factory, and the Rhode Island Science & Technology Council also plan to collaborate on a detailed evaluation of the statewide program to facilitate its expansion into other states.
 
Find out more about the FIRST Vex Challenge at http://www.usfirst.org.
 
Read the press release from the Rhode Island Science & Technology Council at: http://www.stac.ri.gov/index.php?section=news&item=21

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Innovation on Your Agenda?
Ours too! The 22 breakout sessions offered during SSTI's annual conference Nov. 1-2 cover innovation, entrepreneurship and all of the most critical issues for transforming regional economies. Check out the full agenda and slate of outstanding speakers at http://www.ssti.org/Conf06/schedule.htm.

Florida State Using "Cluster Hiring" to Improve Research Standing
FSU hopes new hires will enhance reputation
The competition for the superstars of the research world is heating up, as more and more universities create programs to attract research faculty to their campuses. One of the most ambitious in the country is Florida State University's Pathways to Excellence program. FSU intends to hire 200 tenured or tenured-track professors within a five-year period, with the intention of transforming the quality of its Ph.D. programs.
 
Under the faculty development arm of this program, the university will hire 6-8 star professors built around each of six academic themes. In its first round of hires to create these interdisciplinary clusters, between $4 million to $5 million was spent to attract 38 faculty members. Twelve of these hires have been at the senior, Full Professor level. Additional goals of the program include enhancing the number and amount of federal grants, scholarly productivity, and increasing graduate program and faculty recognition, and the number of Ph.D. graduates. Besides encouraging the development of its academic reputation, the university hopes these efforts will be a step toward membership in the Association of American Universities.
 
While programs to attract research faculty such as the Pathways to Excellence increase in size and frequency across the country, universities may feel the pressure of losing their existing faculty to other institutions. Are there enough top-notch researchers to go around, or will the drive to attract the best and the brightest spark an academic arms race for talent?
 
The website for the Pathways to Excellence at FSU is http://pathways.fsu.edu/faculty/.

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Southern Growth Accepting Nominations for Innovative Programs in South
Southern Growth Policies Board, a regional public policy think tank, is accepting nominations for its 2007 Innovator Awards.

These awards are presented annually to recognize innovative southern initiatives that improve the quality of life in the organization's 13-state region - Ala., Ark., Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia - and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

The 2007 Innovator Awards will be chosen from initiatives that address workforce development challenges. Each nominated initiative must use technology as an integral component to accomplish goals; be truly unique; be something more than a new product, process or service; and provide a track record or other measures of success. In addition, nominated programs must be unique and have a proven track record or other reliable measures of future success.

Initiatives may be from the local, state or regional level. Southern Growth will present the awards at the opening session of the Southern Workforce Summit conference being held on June 3-5, 2007, in St. Louis. Nominations are due Oct. 23, 2006.

For a complete list of award criteria and to nominate a program online, visit http://www.southern.org/main/innovators/innovators.shtml.

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What's Next for TBED?
While politicians across the nation are worrying about where their paycheck will come from in January, TBED programs are determining the best investments elected officials should make for transforming regional economies to be more competitive in a knowledge economy. Join SSTI in Oklahoma City Nov. 1-2 to learn about some of the most successful TBED strategies around the country and trends that should influence future directions. More information is available at http://www.ssti.org/conference06.htm.

Job Corner
Illinois Technology Development Alliance Seeks President
The Illinois Technology Development Alliance (ITDA) is a private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation providing entrepreneur training, commercialization, and technology transition services for government, major research institutions, and corporations. ITDA is looking for a president who will work closely with the organization's board to establish a work plan and priorities to fulfill the mission of the ITDA and will have operating responsibility for the successful implementation of the plan. He or she also will serve as a key public leader in the state and region advocating for the technology sector. The presidents position requires a leader with exceptional experience and capability. More information on this opportunity is available through the SSTI Job Corner at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.

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People

Wes Blakeslee is the new acting director of the Office of Licensing and Technology Development at Johns Hopkins University. Blakeslee replaces Jill Sorensen, who resigned last month.

William Carney is the new president and CEO of the Inland Empire Economic Partnership, a private, nonprofit regional economic development organization in southern California. Carney replaces Paul Hiller, who left earlier this month to take a similar job in Boise, Idaho.

Ramiro Cavazos is resigning as economic development director for the City of San Antonio to become director of research and economic development for the University of Texas Health Science Center, effective Nov. 3.

The Northeast Iowa Business Accelerator named Brian Dalziel as its first regional director.

Connecticut Innovations has selected Frank Dinucci to fill the position of president and executive director, which was vacated by Chandler Howard.

Ray Dizon is the new managing director of the Maryland Venture Fund, replacing Elizabeth Good.

Nathan Feltman was named Secretary of Commerce and president of the Indiana Economic Development Corp. (IEDC). Feltman, the organization's executive vice president and general counsel, replaces outgoing IEDC President Mickey Maurer.

Kelly Lovell is resigning her post as president and CEO of the Center for Economic Growth Inc. to head the U.S. subsidiary of International Business Development Group, a consulting company based in England.

The Supercentenarian Research Foundation, a new nonprofit organization based in Pittsburgh, has selected outgoing Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse CEO Doros Platika as its chaiman.

Ralph Schultz was named president and CEO of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, effective Nov. 1. Schultz replaces Mike Neal, who resigned in July to assume the top job at the Tulsa Metro Chamber of Commerce in Tulsa, Okla.

John Tortorici is retiring as president of the Software Association of Oregon.

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