Oregon's future depends on achieving long-term, sustainable economic
growth, creating quality jobs, and positioning the State to compete in
a global economy. The Oregon University System has made many contributions
to the state, partnering and participating in statewide economic development
efforts. These efforts have helped the state transition from an "extraction" economy
also reliant on natural resources such as timber and fishing, to a "knowledge" economy
reliant on human resources in numerous industries such as high tech and
healthcare, and extending into natural resource industries.
Projected New Jobs in Oregon (2000 - 2010)
Key economic drivers that Oregon's public universities
have contributed to include:
- The quality and quantity of graduates from Oregon public universities
who enrich and diversify the state's workforce, attracting and retaining
companies and jobs
- Cultivation of well-paying jobs that go to Oregonians and reduce
the need to import top management and skill positions from out-of-state,
and
- Creation of world-class signature research centers and business incubators
that transfer scientific innovation into solutions and products that
create new companies, jobs and revenues for Oregon.
The need for sustained and comprehensive employment growth and financial
vitality for Oregon has grown even more critical in recent years. Providing
the opportunity for a college education to more Oregonians is the fuel
that will help to invigorate and stabilize our state economy.
Academic
Excellence and the Economy
The Oregon State Board of Higher Education believes firmly that innovative
ideas are essential to keeping Oregon competitive. The State Board's
Academic Excellence/Economic Development Workgroup (the "Workgroup")
recognizes that economic development efforts need to adopt near- and
long-term strategies that methodically capitalize on Oregon's strengths,
and build upon academia's research capacity in selected emerging industries.
Targeted investments in research and development, capital formation,
and an effective workforce development system are prerequisites for economic
development. The Workgroup has identified 12 "Opportunity Areas" that
reflect potential business, education, and research opportunities that
will be explored as possible areas for future initiatives.
AEED Goals and Purpose
- Identify and gain support for 2-5 economic development initiatives
that build on the academic excellence within our postsecondary institutions.
- Provide a measurable return on investment with each initiative over
20 years, with interim results at earlier intervals.
- Collectively touch every part of Oregon with the initiatives.
- Build on existing or emerging momentum.
- Draw on and reinforce excellence in academic programs.
- Ensure that
the initiatives are both exciting and easy to conceptualize.
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ETIC
and Oregon's Workforce
ETIC Business and
Industry Membership
A recent Oregon Employment Department report indicates that, despite
the recession, employers continue to say that there is a shortage
of
skilled workers in the state, and that vacancies exist in all major occupations
even in a period of lower hiring activity. These shortages of skilled
labor lower company productivity and sales, and thus the revenue they
provide to the state in taxes, and are related to the number of jobs
that companies can maintain. A second concern of employers in the report
was that employees have insufficient "soft skills" such
as
problem-solving, critical thinking skills, interpersonal skills, and
management and leadership skills. These are the types of skills, in fact,
that college graduates are able to bring with them into the workplace.
Since 1997, the Oregon University System has participated in a mutually
beneficial partnership with the private sector to "grow our own" engineers
and computer scientists to fuel the state's largest sector, high tech,
and all of its sectors that use technology. Today in Oregon, technology
is used in industries as diverse as agriculture and healthcare, forestry
and electronics, and utilities and retail.
This partnership is represented by the Engineering
and Technology Industry
Council - or ETIC - made up of executives representing a wide variety
of industries from throughout Oregon as well as leadership from Oregon
universities. Through this effort, OUS and its industry partners are
meeting the state's goals of making engineering and technology education
a strategic resource that fuels our economy and creates opportunities
for all Oregonians.
The ETIC 2005-2007 Budget in the Governor's Recommended
Budget is $21.7
million of the OUS General Fund budget. For more detail on the budget
and the impact on each of the seven OUS campuses, click
here.
ETIC Strategic Objectives Include:
- Doubling the annual number of work-ready technical graduates, a goal
that ETIC is well on its way to meeting, in order to increase Oregon's
in-state technical talent, making it easier to generate new technologies
and grow new businesses and jobs;
- Tripling the federal research dollars flowing to Oregon;
- Growing nationally ranked programs that supply the highly skilled
graduates needed to retain and attract companies and jobs to the state,
and which allow existing Oregon companies to recruit locally, increasing
the number of top jobs that go to Oregonians;
- Increasing the quality and diversity of engineering and technology
students to be able to meet state demand;
- Providing increased opportunities for high paying jobs to Oregonians,
whether they are new to the workforce, entrepreneurs, or displaced
by changes in the economy;
- Quickly forming industry-higher education partnerships to mold and
adapt to global markets for Oregon industry and economic advantage;
and
- Fostering inter-campus and community college collaborations for
programs and research that provide statewide opportunities for education
and training.
ETIC Funding Provide Benefits Across Oregon
Since 1999, ETIC's efforts have increased the number
of undergraduate
and graduate engineers and computer scientists by 40%, and is forecast
to increase those numbers by more than 74% by 2009. ETIC's movement towards
its goals have generated a high level of confidence in Oregon's business
community that sustained investments and clear objectives can achieve
the end result of more high skill technology workers for our industries.
This confidence has brought about a financial commitment
from the private
sector that has grown from $7.1 million in the 1997-1999 biennium to
$37.1 million in the 2003-2005 biennium to match public support of $5
million in 1997-1999 and $20.9 million in 2003-2005.
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Oregon
Innovation Council (Oregon INC)
History
In 2001, the Legislative Assembly approved a comprehensive set of strategies
to enhance Oregon's economic competitiveness in a knowledge-based, global
economy. The Oregon Council for Knowledge and Economic Development (OCKED)
was established under Senate Bill 273 to focus exclusively on increasing
high-quality research and development, cultivating technology transfer
and commercialization of university research, and promoting the development
of a technologically skilled workforce.
The official
report, Renewing Oregon's Economy: Growing Jobs and Industries Through
Innovation , was presented to the Legislature in 2003, outlining
economic development policies and priority recommendations. The report
noted that innovation and commercialization are the economic drivers
for Oregon's 21st Century, but the challenges facing Oregon's public
policymakers have a decidedly 20th Century feel - high unemployment,
stagnant job growth, and a demand on General Fund dollars that exceeds
projected revenue. The early work of OCKED promoted the leadership and
collaboration necessary for regional economic development, global competitiveness,
and job creation.
Transition to Oregon Innovation Council
New challenges require new focus and bold direction. Governor
Kulongoski, the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department,
and the Oregon Council for Knowledge and Economic Development have teamed
to recommend a series of statutory realignments of statewide technology organizations.
Throughout 2004, these public policy leaders met to discuss the
competitiveness of Oregon's traded sector and knowledge industries and how
to increase the state's capacity for innovation, technology development,
and product creation.
Staffed by the Oregon Economic and Community Development
Department, the Oregon
Innovation Council (Oregon InC.) will coordinate statewide private
sector business and industry efforts, such as the Oregon Business
Plan, to enhance Oregon's knowledge economy and international
competitiveness. The plan renames the OCKED and reasserts the Council's
role to create a statewide plan for the innovation economy. The plan
sets out a shared vision, a coordinated set of state policies and programs,
and a cohesive budget for the agencies and partners directly involved
with developing globally competitive businesses and jobs. The proposal
eliminates the Higher Education Technology Transfer Fund, the Oregon
Science and Technology Fund, and moves the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies
Institute (ONAMI) under the auspice of the new Council.
The Governor views the Innovation Council as
a necessary feature to provide for sustained economic development
and promote collaboration among Oregon's public and private institutions
of higher education, economic development leadership, and the private sector
in enhancing the competitive advantage of Oregon's traded sector and emerging
industries as defined in ORS
348.701.
The Council would develop a state plan for innovation by December 2006 that
would provide a five year and 20 year vision for the state's innovation capacity
to create new products and businesses that would sustain economic growth and
jobs for traded sector industries. The plan would include policy, program and
budget recommendations for leveraging private and public resources.
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University
Research Supports Economy
The 2003 Oregon Legislative Assembly, recognizing the vast potential
of nanotechnology as an economic driver, approved $1 million in operating
funds and $20 million in bonds to support the construction of signature
research centers including the Oregon Nanoscience
and Microtechnologies
Institute (ONAMI). ONAMI is an unprecedented and powerful collaboration
involving Oregon's three public research universities - Oregon
State University,
Portland State University, University of Oregon - the Pacific Northwest
National Laboratory (Richland, WA); the state of Oregon; selected researchers
from the Oregon Graduate Institute and the Oregon Health and Science University
School of Dentistry.
In December 2003, the President signed the 21st Century
Nanotechnology
Research and Development Act (S. 189) - a bill authored by U.S. Senators
Ron Wyden and George Allen of Virginia. The U.S. law authorizes $3.67 billion
for nanotechnology research and development over the next three years for
the National Nanotechnology Program.
In June 2004, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith secured U.S. Senate
approval for $10 million in defense-related projects for ONAMI. Competitively
funded research dollars for ONAMI over the last five years have attracted
$75 million in sponsored research and other funds. OUS Sponsored Research Actuals and Targets
1999 to 2007
Dollars in millions 
Sponsored Research:
Developing Work-Ready Students and Oregon's Economy
Many collaborative research projects and proposals are now in progress.
ONAMI is one example of the growing "shared resource" activities
of Oregon's public universities.
Total sponsored research dollars for OUS in 2002-03 totaled $253 million.
The non-state dollars are not only indicators of faculty performance, but
also translate into a source of funds spent on salaries, goods, and services
in their respective communities.
Sponsored Research Currently Underway
At ONAMI (OSU):
At PSU:
At UO:
To read about the UO’s latest and most exciting research projects,
see the PDF versions of Inquiry, the university’s research
newsletter:
- Fall 2004 – featuring
a review of research accomplishments in FY04
- Spring 2004 – featuring
research from the College of Arts and Sciences
- Fall 2003 – featuring
UO’s innovative integrated research efforts
For issues of the semi-annual newsletter, visit the website here.
For more information about the university’s research visit the
UO’s Points of Pride Sponsored Research page here.
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