Willpower and focus They helped Georgia build a science-driven economy. Could the same happen in St. Louis?
BYLINE: C. Michael Cassidy
What do St. Louis and Atlanta have in common?
David Nicklaus recently reported on a Regional Chamber & Growth Association trip to Atlanta ["Atlanta trip shows need of high-return strategies," Nov. 17], which included 90 St. Louis leaders who returned home eager to implement some of our city's economic growth strategies. Both St. Louis and Atlanta seek high-tech industry and high-wage jobs, and both have set aside multimillion-dollar funds for this purpose.
St. Louis has plans in place to achieve this goal, but like many cities has struggled to implement them and quantify success. While areas like Silicon Valley in California, Research Triangle Park in North Carolina and the Route 128 corridor in Massachusetts often get the attention, Georgia's successful approach to building a science-based economy, led by the Georgia Research Alliance, is perhaps more applicable to St. Louis.
GRA investments have helped save Georgia farms millions of gallons of water, supported the world's largest study of type 1 diabetes, helped develop a promising AIDS vaccine, contributed to developing a leading anti-cybercrime software program and supported scholarly efforts to develop a promising treatment for avian flu.
Formed in 1990, GRA works to convert high-tech research into companies and high-wage jobs. By recruiting enterprising scientists, brokering partnerships between universities and companies and sparking initiatives that have scientific and/or economic potential, the GRA encompasses the entire process from research to incubation to commercialization. GRA's approach also makes the most of existing academic and industrial strengths, which is something that St. Louis has in Washington University and Monsanto.
We have found that scholars, research, innovation and commercialization are creating a potent force in the global competition for innovation and high-tech, high-wage jobs. The GRA's Eminent Scholars program has attracted to the state 54 world-class scientists doing groundbreaking research, and now is focused on bringing research results into the marketplace.
This public-private partnership helps harness the collaborative power of the state's six research universities to create, improve and improve the growth of science- and technology-based companies. In the last 16 years, the GRA has invested $436 million to recruit top researchers in advanced communications, computing and the biosciences. In addition to attracting top scientific talent, it has produced new and improved laboratories that have brought the flow of research into companies in the form of marketable products and services.
To nurture the growth and success of young companies, the GRA collaborates with the state's research universities, helping to provide an infrastructure of support. New business "incubators" link fledgling companies with management talent, funding sources and industry contacts - all before they leave academia behind. Several of these new companies have gone on to be publicly traded.
Advancing the progress of scholars and research institutions as part of strategic economic development also has helped the state's existing companies. Numerous firms in Georgia's private sector - from poultry producers to medical manufacturers - have gained access to these valuable resources to become more competitive, keeping and adding new jobs in Georgia.
Business and government leaders in many states ask us to share the "secrets" to the success of the Georgia Research Alliance. What surprises them is that the answer can be boiled down to two basic but powerful concepts - collaboration and focus.
The collaboration of business, state government and Georgia's research universities is our backbone and has generated remarkable partnerships. This partnership has generated more than $2 billion in new, competitively awarded federal funding and investment capital for Georgia.
GRA's focus on a few key technical areas and rich research infrastructure also is critical. The successful GRA formula is not a secret, nor are we shy about describing our approach to developing a sustainable, vibrant, science-driven economy. What is unusual is the willpower and commitment of state and local leaders to remain focused on this long-term approach. If St. Louis chooses to take this approach, this mind-set is critical.
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Academic partners
These universities work with the Georgia Research Alliance:
o University of Georgia o Medical College of Georgia o Emory University o Clark Atlanta University o Georgia Institute of Technology o Georgia State University
Business partners
Among the companies that work with the Georgia Research Alliance:
o BellSouth Corp. o Cingular Wireless o Coca-Cola Co. o GE Energy o Southern Co. o SunTrust Banks o UPS o Wachovia Bank
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C. Michael Cassidy is president and chief executive of the Georgia Research Alliance, based in Atlanta.