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Maine Has a New ‘Science Czar’ –

Science and technology are the new frontiers in Maine’s economy and the state has created a "director of innovation" position to give overall direction to those areas – sort of a science czar.

By:
Matt Wickenheiser
Portland Press Herald
Portland, ME

http://www.nasvf.org/web/allpress.nsf/pages/9019

"Very simply, science and technology and research and development have become, and will continue to become, a bigger part of Maine’s economic development plans," said Jack Cashman, commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development.

"If you’re not in the R&D business these days, you’re really not in economic development. This is an information-based economy in the United States now. The job growth that is replacing the textile and shoe jobs and so forth that have been lost overseas are all in the Idexx, Jackson Labs type of growth areas."

Cashman said the current head of the Maine Technology Institute http://www.mainetechnology.org/ , Janet Yancey-Wrona, has been promoted to the new position. Yancey-Wrona is a well-known figure in Maine’s high-tech community through her work at MTI. Former Gov. Angus King chose her in 1999 to start the institute, which uses state funds to award grants to Maine high-technology companies.

Yancey-Wrona will head the newly created state division of innovation. The new division joins the three others at DECD – the offices of tourism and business development and the department that runs the Community Development Block Grant program.

The division was created through reorganization, Cashman said, rather an addition of money. DECD cut expenses throughout its organization, from travel budgets to field workers in the office of business development, to afford the new division. Yancey-Wrona will have no staff, and will serve as a science adviser to Cashman and the governor. The directors of MTI, the state’s business incubator program and the Experimental Programs to Stimulate Competitive Research will report to her.

"I tell people all the time, if I can get this department running as well as she’s got MTI running, I’ll be happy," said Cashman.

Cashman said Yancey-Wrona will take an overall view of how the state spends money fostering research and development at different levels, including private companies, the university system and nonprofit research labs.

"We need somebody who is advising the commissioner and the governor on where these expenditures should be made and how we can best leverage these funds," said Cashman.

It’s important for the state to have a comprehensive, cohesive strategy for science and technology, said Yancey-Wrona.

"We do bond issues for facilities, we fund MTI, we fund the incubators – how does it all fit together? Are the levels appropriate? Those kinds of questions don’t have a place to be answered," said Yancey-Wrona.

Her position will cost the state $86,000 a year, including her salary.

She said she was interested in the position because it provided a broader scope than her work at MTI has, which focused only on the commercial sector.

Timothy Agnew, a principal at Masthead Ventures in Portland and a member of MTI’s board of directors, said he thought Yancey-Wrona represented an excellent choice for the job. Agnew said she has been able to focus narrowly on a company’s niche technology while also looking at a larger philosophy on the statewide level.

"I do think it’s important for the state to have somebody in that position, overseeing what the state is doing and what the strategy is in the technology area," said Agnew, "partly because I think there’s a huge opportunity for the state in nurturing early stage technology companies, and partly because the state spends a lot of money and needs someone to keep an eye on where things are going."

Robert B. Carr, a program manager at Applied Thermal Sciences Inc. in Sanford and a member of one of MTI’s review boards, also praised the state move.

"It is my view that R&D is the answer for Maine’s success in the future," said Carr. "As innovative techniques come down the road, Maine can have, because of its capabilities and people, a leg up in defining the new frontier in technology."

Yancey-Wrona said she’s filling both roles until she can find a new director for MTI, following a comprehensive search. As to her plans for the director’s position, she said she planned to look over the numerous studies and reports that have been made so she can have a strategy ready for the Legislature.

"We’re not going to do a whole lot more studies, we’re going to start figuring out what to do right away," said Yancey-Wrona.

Cashman said the shuffle at DECD was part of the state’s future strategy for business growth and attraction.

"We’ve played a lot of defense since we’ve walked in here, and I think we’ve been somewhat successful," said Cashman, referring in part to actions made to save jobs at bankrupt paper mills.

"Now we’re starting to take to the offense," he said. "I told the governor this morning, if we can be as successful on offense as we’ve been in defense, this state will be fine. This position Janet is taking is key to the future."

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