Kentucky's twisted history with Coldstream Research Campus Thursday, March 13, 2003 A good story on the University of Kentucky's Coldstream Research Campus underscores how difficult it is to translate univeristy research into business development. Lesson #1 of Coldstream: Your project has to be someone's Number One priority to pull it off. You need strong political and business leadship over a number of years. Your leaders need to be capable of providing long term vision and short term focus. Lesson #2: You need a dedicated team of professionals (and an adequate budget) for a project this complex. Pick-up teams don't cut it. Your team should include professionals with backgrounds in technology transfer, business development and real estate development. Lesson #3: Manage expectations (and cut the gibberish about Research Triangle Park). Even the oldest university-based technology transfer organization, Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, has demonstrated modest success: 92 companies based on technologies developed at UW-Madison are currently in operation; they employ an estimated 1,735 people. Lesson #4: Build the university's research base before you worry about bricks and mortar. The only reason Coldstream has a chance now is that Kentucky has gotten serious about building its research base by recruiting top talent. You've got to be capable of producing good science before you can develop solid businesses. That requires a critical mass of researchers, a focused research plan, and "state of the practice" technology transfer policies. 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.

The Web EDPro Weblog