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Annex B--North Carolina's Research Triangle Park
Pages 231-240

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From page 231...
... Unlike Silicon Valley, RTP did not spontaneously evolve out of the interaction between local universities and the surrounding region, nor has its success at any point been primarily associated with start-up firms, although many start-ups are attributable to RTP. While local universities were essential to RTP's ultimate success, they were to some extent recruited for the effort by local civic boosters as part of a broader out-of-state recruitment strategy of the sort that is sometimes disparaged by analysts of technology-driven economic development.
From page 232...
... On October 10, 1953, Guest later recalled, "I wrote down Research Triangle Park [in my diary] ", the first use of that term.5 Hodges had been elected state treasurer of North Carolina in 1948 and sought to bring new industries to the state, particularly those with a technological orientation, to help it diversify its economic base beyond its principal traditional industries, tobacco, textiles, and furniture, all of which employed low-wage workers.
From page 233...
... with the stated mission of encouraging and promoting "the establishment of industrial research laboratories and other facilities in North Carolina primarily in, but not limited to, that geographical area or triangle formed by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State college of Agriculture and Engineering of the University of North Carolina at Raleigh, and Duke University at Durham."7 Romeo Guest initiated meetings with the three research universities in 1955, finding them to be "wary" with respect to the Research Triangle concept. William Carmichael, representing the UNC system, supposedly commented to Guest in 1956 -- Let me see, if I really understand what we are talking about here, you want the professors here and all of us to be the prostitutes and you're going to be the pimp.8 While some representatives of the university community were active in the Research Triangle initiative, the Research Triangle Committee's work reflected an intention that the universities would maintain a certain distance from industry.9 The Committee adopted the following guideline: It is not anticipated that the three universities in the Triangle shall engage directly in the conduct of industrial research, except under carefully designed and administered policies.
From page 234...
... Davis toured the state at his own expense advocating the research park for the good of the state, and raised $1,425,000 within several months from over 800 anonymous individuals. The funds were used to acquire the land that had been purchased by Pinelands and to transfer control of Pinelands to a non-profit Research Triangle Foundation.12 In addition, the funds supported the establishment of a separate Research Triangle Institute to perform contract research for government and industry and construct a building for the Institute in the park.13 George Simpson, a faculty member at UNC-Chapel Hill, became director of the Institute and addressed the UNC faculty in 1957, articulating his vision of the Research Triangle: Our problem in North Carolina and in the South is not essentially technical; we have available to us the same scientific information as is available elsewhere; we have the same books and substantially the same facilities for training young people in science.
From page 235...
... "With hundreds of prospects, Simpson targeted key faculty members who could become traveling salesmen in their respective fields, and the triangle recruitment show hit the road in all directions".15 Simpson assembled "one of the most unusual teams of traveling salesmen ever seen in business offices," comprised of faculty members who each developed industry-specific brochures based on their academic specialties.16 Professor William Little of the Chemistry Department at UNC-Chapel Hill visited roughly 200 companies during the academic year of 1958-59, reporting significant interest by companies who "needed a supply of graduates to staff future research projects."17 The first company to purchase land in the park, Chemstrand Corporation, a joint subsidiary of Monsanto and American Viscose, was one of Little's targets, acquiring land in 1959, and went on to originate Astroturf at its R&D facilities in the Park. Other first wave organizations to enter the park included textile firms such as Hercules Beunit and the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists.
From page 236...
... In other words, I think the Federal government brought the facilities to Research Park that would not necessarily have come if Terry's support of John Kennedy and later Luther Hodges going to Washington, because Terry supported Kennedy started in motion a string of events that ended up with that HEW agency coming to the Research Triangle Park and making it financially feasible. Southern Oral History Program, "Oral History Interview with George Esser," Interview L-0035, June-August, 1990.
From page 237...
... In 1963, the state General Assembly created the Board of Science and Technology to encourage scientific, engineering, and industrial research applications within the state. The Board initially operated as a grant dispensing entity modeled on the National Science Foundation, operating the first competitive state research grants programs in the U.S.
From page 238...
... example of a successful innovation cluster established through a state recruitment effort seeking to attract established high-tech companies from other states.34 North Carolina's more recent success in establishing biotechnology clusters demonstrates the continuing viability of out-of-state recruitment as a development strategy in innovation-based, technology-intensive industries. By some key metrics, the state ranks third nationwide (after only Massachusetts and California)
From page 239...
... Total job gains in biotechnology during the period -- 12,000 -- were exceeded only by three much larger states, California, Texas, and Florida.36 As was the case with respect to RTP, North Carolina has approached industrial recruiting in the life sciences over a long time horizon. The North Carolina Biotechnology Center spearheads the comprehensive study of hundreds of prospective biotech company recruits, gathering data and information gleaned informally at conferences and industry events in order to gain advanced knowledge of plans by companies to establish new facilities.
From page 240...
... These groups meet four times a year. Thematic IEGs have been formed in North Carolina in bioprocessing, plant molecular biology, smaller eukaryotes, chromatography, next generation sequencing, immunology, and other areas.41 41 NCBC, "Intellectual Exchange Groups," .


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