SWRC Legislative Advocacy Agenda 2004/2005

The Southern Willamette Research Corridor (SWRC) is a cooperative venture of education, business, and government that takes its name from the area it serves. The 40-mile corridor is a center for research, development and specialized manufacturing and a unique “driver” for the Oregon economy, both now and into the future. With two major research universities, and two community colleges with a total of over 58,500 students, the three-county region has a total population of over half a million.

To stimulate and support continuing economic development and diversification, and to enhance the potential of the region as a major resource and technology center, SWRC has developed the following advocacy agenda for 2004/2005. It focuses on support of four major areas:

Technology-Based Economic Development (TBED)
Technology Transfer
Technology Startups
Support for Higher Education

Technology-based Economic Development (TBED)
The intent of technology-based economic development is to integrate research, invention, and innovation to build and diversify the economy. SWRC is committed to initiatives that promote, support, and facilitate TBED within its region and has recognized the importance of TBED to the future of the region and the State. As a region, it has all the characteristics and assets to help technology-based companies grow and prosper. SWRC therefore supports work to continue the region’s investment in educational institutions and community infrastructure to preserve this regional advantage and to promote state and private investment in TBED.

To make Oregon a prime destination for TBED talent, capital and jobs requires an intense and focused partnership of the public and private sectors. This is just what SWRC represents. A specific focus for TBED support should include nanotechnology (a new signature research center), microtechnology, and workforce investment through specialized training that supports technology-based economic development activity.

SWRC supports and offers to be a conduit for efforts directed at making Oregon a prime destination for TBED.

Technology Transfer
Through the work of the University of Oregon and Oregon State University, many successful technology transfer projects have been conducted in the SWRC region. SWRC supports efforts that actively assist the growth of economic clusters through technology transfer and spin-offs. This relies upon linkages between higher education, high tech, and health care.

SWRC supports efforts to invest in technology transfer, particularly involving the two universities within its region, as key to diversifying the region’s and state’s economy and to positioning that economy in the global marketplace.

Technology Startup Support
Intellectual capital and resulting intellectual property necessary to realize TBED rely upon a specialized training infrastructure. Technology startups are different from conventional new small businesses because the principles of technology transfer must be incorporated at every step. The SWRC region is uniquely posed to offer such essential training with the resources of Oregon’s two largest public research universities providing the intellectual seed beds; together with two regional community colleges’ with highly functional training and development departments.

SWRC therefore supports efforts to develop one-stop centers and other resources that relate economic development to workforce training and education as well as efforts to utilize its region’s unique resources to provide a springboard for the emergence of an enhanced and competitive TBED infrastructure in the region.

Support for Higher Education
SWRC supports the Governor’s higher education initiatives: increasing access for students across the state; improving the quality of programs offered; targeting investment to drive economic growth; and, making a significant reinvestment in postsecondary education. Oregon’s economic future depends upon the health of its postsecondary education institutions. The benefits of the State’s two flagship research universities, as well as those of the SWRC region’s community colleges, reach across the state, benefiting not only students from every corner of the state, but economic opportunities to every industry in the state. These benefits include work ready employees, research to improve productivity, and new ideas that form new industries. SWRC supports efforts to increase ways these institutions contribute to state and local economies.