Utah Gets It

I attended the luncheon and keynote speaker at Kickstand's Idavation event, a gathering of inventors, entrepreneurs, investors and service providers, this past Thursday. Candidates and elected officials were scarce, though Boise Mayor Dave Bieter was there to greet the conference attendees and talk a bit about what Boise is doing to support entrepreneurialism and innovation.

Bieter was followed by Don Dietrich, director of the Idaho Department of Commerce. After Mayor Bieter had spoken of the "doorbelling" he does--visiting local businesses and learning about their needs, hopes, plans and gripes--Dietrich noted that he did the same, though he then explained that doesn't make house calls (businesses have to come see him in his office). Dietrich seemed defensive: at least four different times, he assured the audience that Idaho government and Gov. Otter are listening to them, seemingly aware that many in the room had long ago concluded just the opposite.

Dietrich was followed by Brian Cummings, Executive Director of the Technology Commercialization Office at University of Utah. Cummings rattled off an extraordinary track record of success at attracting private and public research dollars, facilitating tech commercialization (he rejects the term "tech transfer"), providing services to start-ups, growing technology clusters, and increasing the number of start-ups resulting from partnerships with the university. By many measures, Utah seems to be doing this better than most places in the country. A few key indicators:

• Commercial sponsored research (when companies pay the university to do research) went from $16.5M in 2006 to $38.2M in 2008.
• New inventors went from 10 in 2004 to 70 in 2007.
• Number of start-ups went from 3 in 2004 to 24 in 2008 (the national average is 2.8 companies per university).
• 4 new angel funds have emerged in Salt Lake City in the last two years.

If Cummings has made U of U into a major league player, Idaho, it would seem, is playing at a junior varsity level at best. Cummings mentioned that the university convinced the Utah Legislature to invest $375 million in the tech commercialization efforts--money that would be spent on building a facility to house research and innovation efforts and attracting world-class inventors. Idaho comes nowhere near making such investments. During the Q&A, a participant suggested asked Cummings how they got the Legislature to support and invest in tech commercialization, adding that Idaho legislators don't seem to get it. Cummings responded that the university president did an amazing job of conveying value--couching the program in terms of industry creation and job growth.

As a legislator, I will make the case to my colleagues that these sorts of investments produce real returns and are imperative if we are to remain competitive with other states and countries around the world that are attempting to lure the very same innovators and entrepreneurs. Utah's example offers much for our universities and Legislature to learn and emulate.

If you don't build it, they won't come

I'm not sure why this story didn't get a bit more play in the media. It pertains to one of the hottest political issues of the next decade: infrastructure.

The reason Idaho has fallen so behind in investing in infrastructure, argue pundits and political junkies, is because the rurally dominated Legislature simply doesn't see the value (or direct benefit) in investing in the sorts of the things that the Treasure Valley and other growing urban areas are clamoring for: road improvements, air quality controls, and public transit, to name a few.

If this is true, rural legislators might do well to familiarize themselves with this story. The relatively small town of Buhl lost a planned $125 million dollar canola processing/biofuel plant, ostensibly due to lack of infrastructure. The president of DISCO Associates, which was the financial backer of the project, specifically cited the costs of power, water, sewer, railway and road infrastructure as the key reason for his company's decision to pull out.

The extreme "fiscal conservatives" who rule the roost at the Statehouse continue to promote their pennywise, pound-foolish ideology, compromising public safety and our economic future by neglecting to invest in infrastructure. I've written about this issue at the Idaho Business Review; I'll be posting more on this topic soon, particularly with respect to the Chamber's Regional Leadership Conference that was held last month in Sun Valley and the infrastructure concerns voiced by local and national business leaders.

Boise Bike Week

Boise Bike Week wrapped up yesterday. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend Saturday's festivities, including the parade, due to a ballet recital (my daughters') and a party to honor our preschool's teachers. Nevertheless, I'm happy to say that I went the entire week commuting to work (and other places) by bike. I did drive the car once for a night-time pharmacy run, but other than that it was pure pedal power. I even had a great ride with my girls to the Green Expo on Saturday.

Thanks to REI for sponsoring free bike "check-ups" on 8th Street on Friday (see picture). My bike, which is a garage sale special, was definitely in need of some TLC.

I've been inspired to commit more fully to keeping the car at home as much as possible. I've signed up for the Treasure Valley Cycling Alliance Commuter Challenge. Check it out. I don't hold out high hopes of winning anything--after all, when I was out campaigning door to door earlier today, I met a neighbor who bikes out to HP every day (from the East End). Now that's commitment!

To learn about ACHD's Roadways to Bikeways program--Ada County's first bicycle master plan--click here.