Keep an eye on Marshall University in West Virginia Friday, July 11, 2003 Marshall University in West Virginia is another campus to watch. The university is making a push into biotechnology, and it has launched the Institute for Development of Entrepreneurial Advances (IDEA) The new institute will focus on the commercialization of technology and science developed on the campus and throughout the region. Read more. (Having Robert Byrd as your U.S. senator helps. As staff counsel to the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, I used to work for Senator Byrd on Capitol Hill. He is a master or pork barrel politics. On one occasion, he abruptly interrupted our meeting on national tax policy to make a telephone call of a freshman House member. He spent five minutes twisting the poor fellow's arm over a small bridge project in West Virginia.) Commercialization and technology transfer are critical to the process of business development. As Maryland's innovation indicators recently showed, it's not enough for universities to produce good science. They must also build the complex pathways from lab to market. This is tricky and subtle business. If you are interested in learning more, start with the Association of University Technology Managers. Visit the AUTM web site. A notable quote from Selby Wellman, a Marshall alumnus and former vice president of Cisco Systems: "We are going to organically grow (businesses) in this area as opposed to the more difficult task of recruiting them." 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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