Reeling-In New Economic Opportunities- Techlink guides the way

Once again it’s summer time in Montana, and anglers from every part of the world are plying the waters of our blue ribbon trout streams. Yet as we Montanans pull on our waders, the fishing season, metaphorically, offers an opportunity to reflect on the state of our economy and the prospects for prosperity that may lay hidden in the deeper runs and pools.
Too often, we read gloomy reports that Montana’s economy lags far behind other states. However, what those stories overlook is that the elements of a dynamic new economy are developing just beneath the surface.

By Will Swearingen Techlink Executive Director

For example, despite severe budget crunches befalling Montana’s higher education system, MSU represents a potent engine for job creation in the state’s rapidly growing technology sector. One of the best illustrations of this involves a university unit located inconspicuously in Bozeman’s Advanced Technology Park: the MSU TechLink Center.

Founded seven years ago with a federal appropriation procured by Senators Conrad Burns and Max Baucus, TechLink has a simple but crucial mission: linking companies in Montana and the larger region with federal research laboratories for new technology development and commercialization.

TechLink came into being because Senator Burns, who is on the Senate Appropriations Committee, wisely recognized that Montana needed a conduit to the nation’s extensive federal laboratory network. Each year, the federal government spends billions of dollars on scientific research at the Department of Defense, NASA, and other federal agencies, which has been crucial to maintaining U.S. technological superiority.

However, to further leverage the taxpayer’s buck, Congress has mandated that these agencies transfer federally developed innovations to the private sector to foster national economic competitiveness.

In addition to helping Montana companies license these innovations, TechLink helps them to land federal funding to develop new technology. TechLink—I like to tell my friends—is akin to a seasoned fishing guide. We help Montana companies navigate the unfamiliar waters of the vast federal lab system and successfully “catch” cutting-edge technologies and research and development funding to make their businesses more successful.

TechLink has now helped well over 150 companies in Montana and the region to secure or develop new technologies. In the process, we have helped these companies obtain more than $30 million in R & D funding.

One of Senator Burns’s core tenets in bringing federal appropriations to Montana is that these funds should serve as strategic seed investments, rather than simply being dollars that are consumed today and gone tomorrow. TechLink has proven to be a good investment. We have created more than a four-to-one return on the investment of federal dollars in our program. The ripple effect is larger yet, if one considers the number of jobs created, the service jobs they support, and the tax revenue generated for local government.

As a result of our success, MSU TechLink has been singled out for national recognition. Recently, the U.S. Department of Commerce surveyed 300 organizations specializing in federal technology transfer, and of all these entities, TechLink was recognized as one of ten "exemplary models" nationwide.

Leading popular business journals such as Forbes and Fortune magazines have lately recognized Montana as a place where entrepreneurs can start successful technology businesses. Thanks to federal investments secured by Senators Burns and Baucus and Congressman Rehberg, Montana is rapidly gaining a reputation for more than world-class fishing. Technology entrepreneurs drawn by Montana’s spectacular natural environment are discovering that Big Sky Country also runs deep with the spirit of innovation, a strong work ethic, and a well-educated workforce.

We at TechLink are proud to have a role in shaping Montana’s new economy. Our congressional delegation has positioned us well.

Will Swearingen, Ph.D., is the executive director of MSU TechLink.

Contact: Will Swearingen, MSU TechLink, (406) 994-7704, email: [email protected]