Expand collaboration (hold the tax breaks) Tuesday, March 04, 2003 What does it take to stimulate technology-led economic development? Wisconsin is finding out what doesn't work -- technology zones that offer tax breaks to start-ups. (Major flaw: start-ups don't pay taxes.) This mistake is about to be repeated in Pennsylvania, where Governor Rendell proposes tax free "innovation zones" around universities. In fact, the best approach states can take is to ease the restrictions on university-industry collaboration. That's what proponents of South Carolina's reforms are doing. These obstacles (inadequate release time for faculty, limits on outside income, cumbersome licensing policies, inflexible procurement regulations) appear arcane, but they are real...and they matter a lot. In Oklahoma, the Board of Regents has weighed in on improving connections to business, although they have yet to propose anything specific. Major organizational reforms (like those proposed in Massachusetts and New Jersey) can also work to make colleges and universities more flexible and adaptable to the demands of economic development. Kentucky is good evidence of that. But these efforts are politically costly and take a lot of time. On the local level, Indianapolis is off to a promising start with a life sciences initiative that focuses on building habits of collaboration. And in Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh formed the CUBE initiative (Connecting Universities with Business Enterprises) to accelerate technology commercialization. This article gives you a good idea of the "nuts and bolts" of technology-led economic development. posted by Ed Morrison |		This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. links Some Background on EDPro Weblog The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it. One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information. So, spread the word...Share the knowledge. Tell a friend about EDPro Weblog. If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site: Here's the link if you are a bloglines subscriber: Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking. Background on Ed Morrison Download some background information on me here.

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