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Guest opinion: MSU TechLink: Reeling in new economic opportunities

August 7, 2003 /

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Once again it’s summertime 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.

By WILL SWEARINGEN Billings Gazette

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.

Links to research

For example, despite severe budget crunches befalling Montana’s higher education system, Montana State University 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. http://techlink.msu.montana.edu

Founded seven years ago with a federal appropriation procured by Sens. 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 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.

Trolling for grants

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. These include Red Oxx and Decision Commerce Group, both of Billings; Skylark Technology of Glasgow; Zoot Enterprises of Bozeman; Visual Learning Systems of Missoula; S&K Electronics of Ronan; and Positive Systems of Whitefish. In the process, we have helped companies obtain more than $30 million in R&D funding.

One of Burns’ 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.

‘Exemplary model’

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. Of all these entities, TechLink was recognized as one of 10 "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 Burns and Baucus and Rep. Denny Rehberg, Montana is rapidly gaining a reputation for more than world-class fishing. Technology entrepreneurs drawn by Montana’s spectacular natural environment are learning that Big Sky Country also runs deep with the spirit of innovation, a strong work ethic, and a well-educated work force

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

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The MSU TechLink Center

Advanced Technology Park

900 Technology Boulevard, Suite A

Bozeman, Montana 59718-6857

Phone: (406) 994-7700

FAX: (406) 994-7701

Email: [email protected]

Web-page URL: http://techlink.msu.montana.edu

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