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Science-Based Economic Development edited by Susan Raymond
Robert M. Kidd
Maine Science and Technology Foundation
Augusta, Maine
Maine is a relatively small state with a population of slightly more than 1.2 million residents and a gross state product (GSP) of $23.3 billion The GSP by sector (percentage) is: Manufacturing 19.1, services 17.5, trade 17.2, finance 16.9, government 13.6, transportation 7.3, construction 5.8, and agriculture 2.6.
Science-Based Development Structure
Maine's science and technology programs are being developed around the notion that future economic growth can be generated internally through higher education and technology, not just in recruitment of industry from outside the state.
On a national scale higher education has made a significant entry into economic development and cooperative technology programs. States have invested aggressively in the research capabilities of their universities. Professors have been recruited; laboratories built, refurbished, and equipped; centers and investigators have been sponsored; and expectations have been raised. In many states, research support for higher education went from being an afterthought in the state budget process to an explicit priority. Many states have coupled their investment with increases in federal funding during the 198Os and early 1990s.
Maine's science and technology programs have recently undergone significant structural change. In 1993, legislation restructured the Maine Science and Technology Foundation (MSTF) as a nonprofit corporation and designated it as the state's lead organization on science and technology. MSTF is now Maine's public/private partnership for charting the pathway and fostering the effective application of science and technology in Maine's economy by investing in initiatives that help firms and institutions create quality, high-wage jobs.
MSTF's legislative purposes are to encourage, promote, stimulate, and support the following: research and development of relevance to the state; technology transfer activities that increase the competitiveness of business and public institutions of higher education; effective and efficient application of technologies; scientific and technological education and training; and the development and manufacture of new or improved commercial products.
MSTF replaced the Maine Science and Technology Commission (MSTC), a state agency which was created in 1988 to enhance industrial innovation and research excellence in the state.
The move to nonprofit status has allowed Maine to position to better capitalize on science and technology resources. The nonprofit corporation was carefully designed to provide greater flexibility in its operations, including its efforts in resource development and the recruitment of high-quality staff and board members. Additionally, the MSTF is in a better position than a government agency to seek philanthropic funding from foundations and companies. Unlike its prior circumstances as a government agency, the MSTF will soon, through the Maine Technology Investment Fund, be making direct investments and providing loans to science- and technology-orientated small businesses.
The restructuring of MSTF underscored the industry-led nature of the program. MSTF's board of directors, which directs MSTF's operations, has substantial representation from industry. MSTF's board must consist of a minimum of 12 directors from the private sector, one from labor, and at most 10 directors from public and educational sectors. Two voting ex officio members from the Maine legislature are jointly appointed by the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House. All non ex officio directors are appointed by the Governor. The board hires the president of the foundation, who serves as a voting member and hires additional staff MSTF has a staff of thirteen.
Working with the MSTF is the Research Excellence Partnership (REP). REP serves as the standing advisory body to MSTF on research-related issues and as the steering committee for the Maine Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research. It is composed of representatives from academia, nonprofit research laboratories, business, and state government.
Programs
The programs sponsored by the MSTF have been developed to produce results and fulfill the mandate of the Foundation. This paper reviews the four major initiatives of the Foundation, which include the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), Industry Outreach Centers, the Maine Manufacturing Extension Partnership and the Maine Technology Investment Fund.
Maine Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR)
The Maine EPSCoR program is a cooperative federal-state initiative designed to assist states that have not fared well in securing competitive federal R&D funding to strengthen their R&D infrastructure. Maine has successfully competed for funding from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy EPSCoR Programs. The NSF EPSCoR is a joint program of the Maine Science and Technology Foundation, the University of Maine, and the National Science Foundation. Current objectives of Maine's NSF EPSCoR Strategic Improvement Plan include working with the University of Maine Board of Trustees to outline the issues leading to a system-wide assessment of research competitiveness, including resource allocation for research, faculty rewards and incentives, and research equipment and facilities. Maine's health and economic future depends more than ever on strong, resourceful, and responsive public higher education institutions. They must provide the intellectual underpinnings, knowledge, ideas, and innovations, and they must train the scientists, engineers, and teachers who will lead Maine forward to establish the state's future economic prosperity.
Industry Outreach Centers
The oldest science and technology programs of MSTF are the Industry Outreach Centers. These centers were created, beginning in 1988, as technology partnerships that harness Maine's best technical talent for the benefit of business. Steered by industry-led boards, these centers are recognized for their responsiveness to the industries they represent. The Foundation funds the Maine Acquaculture Innovation Center, the Center for Technology Transfer for metals and electronics, and the Center for Innovation in Biotechnology. Through their industry-led boards each center has determined industry needs and combined private and state funds to leverage federal dollars. As a result of the capability of the centers and the level of commitment from industry, the Center for Technology Transfer was able to sponsor the Portland Manufacturing Center for the Maine Manufacturing Extension Program.
Maine's Manufacturing Extension Program
In March of 1995 the Maine Science and Technology Foundation signed a cooperative agreement with the National Institute of Standards and Technology to establish the Maine Manufacturing Extension Program. Maine MEP is quickly becoming a statewide program for coordinating the delivery of quality, technology-related modernization services to Maine's 2400 small and medium-sized manufacturing firms through industry-driven and industry-led extension centers. Maine MEP will help smaller manufacturers identify high-priority improvement projects and carry them out by linking firms to existing services that improve engineering, design and manufacturing capabilities, as well as market research, finance, best business practices, work organization, workforce skills, and firm-to-firm relationships.
Maine Technology Investment Fund
Sustaining a growing economy in Maine in the twenty-first century will require funding to support an environment that fosters innovation and entrepreneurship. To expand and develop Maine's technology resources, the Maine Technology Investment Fund was created in the spring of 1995. The Fund was established in statute to promote long-term economic growth through investments in science and technology. This new resource, administered by the MSTF, will provide matching funds to federal research grants (such as EPSCoR and MEP) in the state as well as make direct investment in technology commercialization. Bridging the gap between basic research and applied science has not received adequate attention in Maine, but it will be the very foundation of this new venture. Investments from the fund will help support development of intellectual property to drive spin-off companies and production of new products.
The University of Maine
In most states, the university is central to the state; performance in R&D. The University of Maine is the State's land-grant, sea-grant. and primary research university, and is the state's only doctorate-granting institution Founded in 1865, UMaine's primary mission was to educate teachers and assist farmers through a federally-funded agricultural extension program. Competitive research and graduate programs were not undertaken seriously until the 1960s. The University awarded its first Ph.D. degree in 1960 and began to emphasize external competitive sponsored research in 1970. Thus, UMaine was unprepared to take advantage of federal science development programs that proliferated in the 1960s. UMaine's total competitive R&D funding in 1970 was less than $1 million. Many of UMaine's current faculty were hired in the 1960s and early 1970s when the University's emphasis was on teaching rather than research.
During the past twenty years, total annual R&D obligations to UMaine have increased steadily from about $4 million in 1975 to over $27 million in 1995. This dramatic change could be a harbinger of future growth. Indeed within the present research effort there are a number of pockets of excellence.
The Future
The Maine Technology Investment Fund is being created to operate at the first point at which a financial return might possibly be recouped from investment in research and development. The Fund will invest in technologies which are sufficiently developed so that they may be deemed to be potentially proprietary, and are ready for proof of concept, prototype, and commercialization stage activities.
It is through the emerging research capacity at Maine's institutions of higher learning, the nonprofit research laboratories, combined with the ability of the Industry Outreach Centers to network investment opportunities, that the Fund can now contribute to the state's effort to generate long-term growth from its investment in education and technology.
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