ll EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

A. A Strategic Vision

The Council and its Committee on Science and Technology believe that any economic plan for Vermont should begin with an understanding of, and commitment to, common values shared by most of the citizens of this state. We further believe that the most basic of these values are a determination to protect the natural environment; allegiance to the principle that prosperity means raising the standard of living for everyone; and a reverence for the concept of building for future generations.

We are convinced that the best hope for fulfilling this vision is to build upon Vermont's manufacturing employment base by encouraging the research industry and related knowledge-based industries which can supplement and enrich our manufacturing capability to make it globally competitive and capable of continued leadership in a rapidly changing and scientifically oriented economic climate.

The twin engines that can drive this growth are:

1. The science and technology base currently existing in our centers of higher education and research and also in some of our leading edge manufacturing, engineering and software firms.

2. A concerted effort and effective process for "technology transfer" that will encourage and facilitate the transmission and use of the knowledge base in the enterprise sector of our economy.

The key to this strategic vision is a conviction that Vermonters are capable of forming strong working partnerships to achieve their common goals. We call in this plan for partnerships between business people and academics, between government and non-government institutions, and ultimately between taxpayers and workforces. We need to create channels for the flow of information and build bridges to permit effective continuous transport of knowledge and abilities between those who create them and those who can use them. The result can be the creation of economic value and high-quality job opportunities for Vermonters that are globally competitive and not only capable of change, but actually engage in leading the change process.

/ 6 /

B. Scope of Science and Technology Plan

This is the first Science and Technology Plan drafted for the State of Vermont. It is intended to be the beginning of a continuous "work in progress." It is a beginning and is intended to stimulate both specific actions and additional thought and creative ideas for the future.

This plan focuses on a limited number of science and technology initiatives and is not intended in any way to be either exclusionary or all encompassing. We believe the initiatives outlined here are good places to start and have a reasonably good probability of success since they build on existing strengths already in Vermont. There are currently many other initiatives that could be developed and future editions of the Vermont Science and Technology Plan will certainly find them.

The initial planning effort should have a useful life of between two and four years and we strongly urge that it be reconsidered and redrawn in that time frame.

The Vermont Technology Council intends to play a continuing oversight role in pursuing this plan, much the way proud parents seek to help their offspring grow and develop enough to venture alone into the world. But, as with parents, our goal is to launch initiatives that will be not only self-sufficient, but prominent contributors to the future of Vermont.

The plan has been divided into two sections:

1. Specific proposals for developing science and technology industries.

2. Proposals for developing and enhancing necessary infrastructure.

C. Developing Centers of Excellence

This plan recommends the creation of four centers of excellence. These four areas were selected because they offer special opportunity to build on existing strengths and resources in Vermont and all have potential both for excellence and for future growth and development.

Beyond those very general common denominators, however, each of these four centers has special distinctive and defining characteristics and they are quite different. Two have the potential to develop very quickly and the other two may take a year or more. Two will relate to substantial numbers of existing Vermont enterprises while two others initially will likely find their business contacts limited to a small number of Vermont firms. All four, however, have the potential for very substantial and very positive impact on the economy of Vermont and their research base itself should be significantly advantaged by collaboration with both

/ 7 / government and industry.

The four centers of excellence are:

1. Center for Food Science. This is the most advanced initiative of our plan. Based at the University of Vermont, where food science technology already is an important discipline, the purpose of this center is to expand the economic horizon for Vermont's food processing industry.

2. Environmental Science and Analysis Center. Using the very extensive and highly regarded programs and businesses that already have made Vermont a national leader in environmental science, this Center will coordinate existing business opportunities and seek out new economic opportunities related to environmental issues.

3. Vermont Biotechnology Center. Despite significant successful research in this field, the biotechnology industry in Vermont remains in a very early stage of development. This Center will promote commercial opportunities growing out of the research being done in various places and programs in the state.

4. Advanced Materials Technology Center. This is the least developed of the technology initiatives proposed in this plan, but it offers significant potential for economic growth. The work of the center will be defined and designed by a new committee to be named by the Vermont Technology Council.

D. Infrastructure Initiatives

We have identified five initiatives that will provide the infrastructure required to support the four centers of excellence and enhance the science and technology sector of the Vermont economy. In addition, we are recommending a sixth initiative that, while not precisely "infrastructure," we believe can play a positive role to encourage science and technology in Vermont. The Vermont Society of Science and Technology is added here as a supplement to the infrastructure initiatives.

The infrastructure initiatives recommended are:

1. EPSCoR. While Vermont currently has a substantial and mature research base, the necessity to stimulate both new research and new researchers is the very base upon which this entire concept and process will be built. Vermont EPSCoR has come of age in this last year and is indeed stimulating new research and new researchers as well as new respect for the quality of its output.

2. Manufacturing Extension Service. In an economy dominated by small businesses, most of which are too small to sustain their own research and development operations, it is very important to create a system to provide fast and easy access to the state's academic and technical resources. The Manufacturing Extension Service, to be based at Vermont Technical College, is intended to identify needs and design systems to deliver necessary assistance to existing business and industry in Vermont.

3. Telecommunications. Access to information is one of the major economic driving forces and it is important to all Vermonters to have easy and affordable access to the suppliers of such information. This plan's initiative for public network infrastructure will help ensure this access.

4. Technology Transfer. In a widely diversified and rapidly changing economy, the efficient and fair transfer of technology is an essential component. The necessary infrastructure for this transfer already is under construction at the University of Vermont, and our initiative is to help facilitate and expand this work. Once in place at UVM, it will serve both as an available mechanism to support transfer originating anywhere in Vermont and also may be used as a model for the creation of separate technology transfer processes in other areas.

5. Capital for Commercialization. Raising money for commercial development of an innovative new business is very difficult, even when the venture is based on successful technological and scientific research. This plan would encourage Vermont entrepreneurs to take advantage of an existing federal / 9 / financing source, the Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) by having the state Agency of Development and Community Affairs subsidize researchers' efforts to obtain SBIR funding.

6. Vermont Society of Science and Technology. Public support will be critical to the success of science and technology initiatives. To further public understanding, and to honor Vermonters who excel in these areas, we propose creation of a Vermont Society of Science and Technology.

In The End

The real measurement of success of this Science and Technology Plan will be the quality and quantity of jobs created for Vermonters through these proposed initiatives. But to project the number of new permanent jobs that will be created is highly speculative, and at this point does not appear to be a useful exercise.

We suggest that the proposed initiatives be measured against their ability to attract the outside funding required, and that the Vermont Technology Council report to the Governor of Vermont on an annual basis on the status of the fundraising in support of these proposed initiatives, as well as reporting on the individual jobs that have been created.

/ 10 /