Adobe, Pixar and WordPerfect software companies all have one thing in common: They began in Utah only to hightail it to Silicon Valley. With the Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative, the Utah State Legislature hopes to keep profitable businesses in the state.
USTAR has been successful in its early stages. Thomas Parks, the U’s vice president of research, who was initially worried that the program was a bit too ambitious, said USTAR is ahead of schedule in terms of money, grants, start-ups and members brought into the initiative. Three of the faculty members USTAR hired have started or brought companies to Utah.
These achievements have helped USTAR spread its wings. The Legislature has appropriated $28.5 million to the initiative for the new James L. Sorenson Molecular Biotechnology building, a new research building that is scheduled to be finished October 2011. USTAR is also introducing four new research initiatives and has begun interviewing 25 potential faculty recruits.
These new research projects include work in complicated areas such as digital media, nanoscale and biomedical photonics, and micro and nanosystem integration.
Parks said once the faculty positions in these research areas are filled, the economic impact of the programs will begin.
These projects are designed to generate new companies and jobs, depending on the focus area. Engineering research that develops a device or diagnostic product could begin producing jobs in a matter of a few years. Medical research, which tends to develop medicine, usually has longer-ranging economic impacts, sometimes not producing jobs or business for 10 years.
Parks said projections show there will be an increasing number of new companies and jobs as a result of these four research initiatives.
In its few years of existence, USTAR has succeeded in producing new jobs in Utah. The Legislature implemented USTAR as an economic development project. As Utah’s average wage continues to drop below the national average, local politicians and businesses are hoping to create more high-wage jobs.
To do this, the Legislature appropriated money to USTAR to hire established scientists and engineers whose work lends itself to commercialization, Parks said.
The USTAR initiative was initially pushed by the Chamber of Commerce and other in-state business associations that felt the program was essential to keep Utah from falling behind other states in technology fields.
“USTAR is an interesting example of how business, government and universities can all work together for common goals,” Parks said.
Since its inception in 2005, USTAR has hired 13 nationally renowned faculty members who have brought their research programs to the U.
One such faculty member is Brian McPherson, who is working with USTAR to research carbon sequestration. His technologies capture carbon dioxide from coal fire power plants before it enters the atmosphere and inject the gas back into the ground, greatly reducing carbon admissions.
McPherson said USTAR has been helpful in his business and research activities. The program provided bridge funding for his project so he could hire and pay employees until he raised enough money to support them on his own.
He is working on a business agreement with a large local corporation which could potentially invest a significant amount of money in his research and business endeavors. If the agreement goes through, McPherson’s new business will start with 10 employees and grow from there.
“The idea is to build up technologies in research universities,” Parks said. “Those technologies then get spun off into companies that create high-wage jobs for Utah.”