Chancellor calls on firms to fill UWM research park; Spurring economic development will take partnerships, he says

In Chancellor Carlos Santiago's vision, Innovation Park would be a place where engineers from companies such as Rockwell Automation work together in the same building with University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee scientists and students to generate research dollars and spin off new companies.

Describing that vision of the proposed Wauwatosa research park to the Wisconsin Technology Council board Tuesday, Santiago issued a challenge to businesses: open locations in the park and supply them with engineers and equipment.

Spurring economic development in the region will require partnerships among UWM, the state and private industry, he said.

"The state provides the facilities or the flexibility . . . companies co-locate in facilities with equipment, and we will provide the people," Santiago said.

The push for partner companies is the latest step in Santiago's strategy to develop an 82-acre research park that would help fuel southeastern Wisconsin's economy while establishing UWM as a well-known research university.

UWM has yet to acquire the Milwaukee County Grounds property for the project, but it got some major traction last year: First, it secured roughly $10 million over two years for its growth plan from the state budget, despite a tough budget year. Then, philanthropist Michael Cudahy announced that he would bankroll the land purchase.

Santiago told the board that UWM has to take a different path than UW-Madison on its way to becoming a major research university. UW-Madison has had success by slowly building a critical mass of faculty, particularly in the biosciences, who have spun off start-ups and licensed technology in other parts of the country, he said. But the state doesn't have the resources to support UWM the way it has supported UW-Madison in the past, and UWM doesn't have as much time to wait for critical mass to build, he said.

"Even if the state had the resources to take Madison and reduplicate (that model) in Milwaukee, I would say no," Santiago said.

UWM, he said, can make faster inroads by partnering with businesses in one location, building off of their existing research and development.

Santiago also stressed that the state not only has room for more than one large research university, but that southeastern Wisconsin needs such a hub to advance the economy here.

Altogether, UWM, Marquette University, the Milwaukee School of Engineering and the Medical College of Wisconsin generate less than $200 million of academic research each year. By comparison, the University of Illinois-Chicago generates more than $350 million. UW-Madison, for its part, conducts more than $900 million worth of research a year.

"The academic research in southeastern Wisconsin is too low," Santiago said. "And it's my perspective that's what's keeping our growth rate at a slower rate than Madison's, and we're at a disadvantage."

More of the research needs to focus on science and engineering, Santiago said.

"Our School of Education brings in more research dollars than our School of Engineering. In a city like Milwaukee, and in a region like southeast Wisconsin, that is wrong. . . . It doesn't take anything away from the School of Education; the problem is engineering in southeastern Wisconsin is much too small."

Although Santiago mentioned Rockwell, Johnson Controls and GE Healthcare as the types of companies he imagines in Innovation Park, he said he has just started conversations with area companies. Although some have expressed interest, none has committed because the university hasn't acquired the land for the park yet, he said.

UWM is still in negotiations for the land, said spokesman Tom Luljak.

As for state involvement, Santiago's plan still calls for $10 million in new state money in each of the next two budget cycles. He also hopes the state will allow the university some flexibility so it can avoid long wait times involved in the state Building Commission process.

When Santiago was provost at State University of New York at Albany, that university used state operating dollars to lease a facility and paid private developers to build it, he said.

Mark Bugher, director of the University Research Park at UW-Madison and a Wisconsin Technology Council board member, applauded UWM's strategy.

"The success of southeastern Wisconsin is integral to the rest of our state," he said.

Kay Plantes, an economist hired as a consultant to the UW System to help organize the system's strategic framework, described UWM's plan as a good example of how each campus needs to work to create high-paying jobs by expanding research.

"What Carlos is doing is really exciting," she said. "I think a stronger economy is going to go a long way to creating better outcomes. It's the best anti-poverty strategy."

Carlos de la Huerga, president of Telaric Ideas in Mequon and a Wisconsin Technology Council board member, questioned whether companies would truly use these facilities once they're built. He said he's seen universities build great facilities that no one in industry knows about or uses.

Santiago answered that partners who ante up by providing resources for the Innovation Park will be eager to put those resources to use.

"If industry provides the equipment, they will use it," Santiago said. "They need some skin in the game."

Copyright 2008, Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved. (Note: This notice does not apply to those news items already copyrighted and received through wire services or other media.)