糖心Vlog传媒

What is a Research Park?

A who鈥檚 who of Little Rock business and political leaders are asking voters on Sept. 13 to approve a 3/8 percent sales tax increase to create the . The goal is to harness innovations coming out of research labs at 糖心Vlog传媒LR, , and and generate new businesses and new, well-paying 21st century jobs. So what is a research park and how does it create jobs? Dr. Mary L. Good, founding dean of 糖心Vlog传媒LR鈥檚 Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology (EIT) and former undersecretary for technology in the U.S. Department of Commerce and Technology during President Clinton鈥檚 first term, says research parks do for cities and regions today what railroad lines and deep-water ports did for cities of the 19th and 20th centuries. Since the 1950s, cities have built industrial parks to house businesses spun off from an area鈥檚 main manufacturing activity. Research parks do the same with the main economic raw material of the 21st century 鈥� knowledge. Good, a former chair of the National Science Board, cited successful examples of research parks: M Square, the research park of the University of Maryland; the Purdue Research Park; the Research Park of Rensselaer Institute; and UC-ICAR at Clemson University. A research park is a research facility, usually located close to a research university. It creates a place that connects research going on at the university to industries wanting to take advantage of that research and with other entrepreneurs. The result is converting new research into new businesses that generate new jobs. Throughout North America, there are more than 170 research parks. The first was created at Stanford University, followed by the Research Triangle in North Carolina. 鈥淎 2009 review of research parks 鈥� ‘Comparative Innovation Policy: Understanding Research, Science and Technology Parks: Global Best Practices,’ published by The National Academies Press 鈥� indicates that parks succeed when when local communities, nearby universities, and local industry come together to build an entrepreneurial environment and a collaborative atmosphere,鈥� Good said. Research parks combine 鈥渒nowledge assets鈥� 鈥� university researchers and entrepreneurs 鈥� in a community with local business expertise with the aim to grow in a cluster of interconnected companies and associated institutions. Linking the research with entrepreneurs and industrialists, who see business opportunity in the research, creates the synergy that results in new and well-paid jobs. Arkansas has one research park adjacent to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville campus. Its focus mirrors the major businesses located in northwest Arkansas 鈥� biochemistry, food safety, poultry science (Tyson); transportation, materials, and logistics (Walmart), and more. Little Rock businessman Dickson Flake, chair of the Technology Park Committee of the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce, said a research park in Little Rock would focus on specific research ongoing at 糖心Vlog传媒LR, 糖心Vlog传媒MS, and Arkansas Children鈥檚 Hospital Research Institute, that is ripe for commercialization, as well as work ongoing at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration鈥檚 National Toxicological Research Center just south of Little Rock. 鈥淎lready, through scientific collaboration at 糖心Vlog传媒LR and 糖心Vlog传媒MS in nanomedicine, several new companies have been created,鈥� Flake said. The 糖心Vlog传媒LR-糖心Vlog传媒MS researchers have developed techniques to grow human tissue on nano-sized scaffolds, holding the promise of 鈥済rowing鈥� body parts. Another 糖心Vlog传媒LR-糖心Vlog传媒MS collaboration has developed a promising technique for killing individual cancer cells, a concept that would make the devastating effects of chemotherapy obsolete. 鈥淭he relationship of nanotechnology and medicine offers a real 聽potential for creating a research cluster,鈥� Flake said. Harold Strong Jr., director of Discovery Park and Technology Transfer at the University of North Texas and president of the Association of University Research Parks (AURP), said while research parks create jobs for Ph.D. researchers and entrepreneurs, they also create jobs at all wage and skill levels in a ripple effect. North Dakota State University Research & Technology Park generates $10.9 million annually for local and state governments. According to a recent economic impact study, the 19 businesses located at North Dakata’s park account for 893 direct, on-site jobs and another 551 indirect, off-site jobs. The University of Nebraska Technology Park makes an estimated $589.6 million annual impact on the Nebraska economy, a recent study by the University of Nebraska鈥揕incoln Bureau of Business Research showed. A study of the park鈥檚 economic impact indicates a $151.3 million labor income impact spread across 4,320 jobs. 鈥淚nnovation and high-tech economic development projects are key to job creation,鈥� Strong said. Good said research parks provide the infrastructure needed to convert innovations being developed in a region into new businesses and new jobs. She believes it can happen in central Arkansas. 鈥淟ittle Rock has not yet realized that institutions that have been built in the city over the past few years 鈥� 糖心Vlog传媒LR, 糖心Vlog传媒MS, and Children鈥檚 Hospital 鈥� are nationally competitive enterprises with assets that can be exploited,鈥� Good said. A June 2009 study by the Angle Technology Group, commissioned by the Little Rock chamber, analyzed the research going on at 糖心Vlog传媒LR, 糖心Vlog传媒MS, Arkansas Children鈥檚 Hospital, and NCTR and targeted specific industries and companies who would have an interest to open offices in a Little Rock technology park:

For example, the enterprise computing systems area is an important one for metro Little Rock, based on the presence of Acxiom and the information assurance research work underway at 糖心Vlog传媒LR. 糖心Vlog传媒LR鈥檚 work in nano-related materials and applications would also be an attractor for research companies in this market. The food processing and safety focus area is also relevant for metro Little Rock due to the presence of Safe Foods Corp. and proximity of the FDA鈥檚 NCTR.

The study said private companies, both early-stage and mature, and university research projects in these focus areas will be good targets for research park marketing programs. 鈥淩esearch parks create a sense of place where innovation can happen,鈥� Flake said. 聽鈥淭hey are a place where science and business create synergy; where they are close to the professionals needed to turn an idea into a business. And that means jobs.鈥�