Excellence in Technology-Led Economic Development (cont.)

Barry Batcheller, a North Dakota entrepreneur who started an electronics manufacturing company later sold to equipment manufacturer John Deere & Company, was initially skeptical that the tech park could be accomplished. Batcheller, an NDSU graduate (and now a member of the NDSU Research & Technology Park board), told President Chapman, “If you can lay the foundation to get it done, I’ll build a building.” Phoenix International, at the time headed by Batcheller, became the Park’s cornerstone tenant.

Partners in growth

In six years, the NDSU Research and Technology Park has evolved from agricultural acres to six buildings in which high-tech research and manufacturing occurs.

The rapid early success of the NDSU Research & Technology Park has depended upon bipartisan and nonpartisan work by leaders who understand what is at stake for North Dakota’s economic future. Fortunately, that includes the state’s Republican governor and its Democratic congressional delegation.

As options were discussed at the state level, North Dakota’s congressional delegation – including Senator Byron Dorgan, Senator Kent Conrad and Representative Earl Pomeroy – sought additional opportunities to spur development. Senator Dorgan worked with government entities and businesses to create the Red River Valley Research Corridor in 2002, with the goal of attracting new companies and high-paying jobs to the state by maximizing the world-class research underway at the state’s universities.More than $300 million has been secured for Research Corridor development.

In addition, Senator Dorgan’s annual Upper Great Plains Technology Conference and Action Summits bring in tech heavyweights such as CEOs from satellite radio, medical technology corporations, telecommunication companies, Silicon Valley companies and others to see what the state has to offer. Senator Dorgan also initiated an introduction between NDSU and Alien Technology of Morgan Hill, Calif., a leading manufacturer of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags.

Governor John Hoeven, previously a banking executive who participated in the Higher Education Roundtable, also pushed to develop programs to spur the state’s economy from one based solely on agriculture, energy and tourism to a more diverse mix that includes technology-based businesses.

During the 2003 legislative session, the North Dakota Legislature, acting on Governor Hoeven’s proposal, created “Centers of Excellence” within North Dakota’s university system. The Centers of Excellence initiative provides up to $50 million for research and commercialization of new products and services that will create higher-paying jobs and new business opportunities. Dollars leveraged with private and federal matching funds are helping make the state’s campuses active partners in building North Dakota’s economy.

The NDSU Research & Technology Park project was declared a Center of Excellence and was awarded a $1.25 million grant to develop a technology incubator, the NDSU Center for Technology Enterprise. More than $6.9 million in state, private and federal funds have been secured to develop the incubator, including $3 million from local governments and businesses in the region and $1.75 million from the U.S. Economic Development Administration for construction. (NDSU also has received $7 million in Centers of Excellence funding for projects in advanced electronics, polymers, coatings and agriculture biotechnology. Earlier awards included a Center of Excellence in Beef Systems and a Center for Genetic Research.)

To accomplish its goals, NDSU Research & Technology Park leaders collaborated with the chamber of commerce and local, regional and state economic development groups. In a state where business leaders can call elected office holders and talk with them directly, such communication fosters collaboration.

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