Research & Development

Vision for Research and Development

Regional R&D partnerships stimulate innovation, increase economic diversity, and improve the area's business infrastructure and quality of life.

Increase the R&D capacity of the Three Rivers region to grow and diversify the economy.
Encourage entrepreneurship, new business creation, and sustained business success.
Have an educational base in science and engineering that supports the needs of R&D and the new high-tech companies in the Three Rivers region.

Increase in research expenditures from public and private sources.
Increase in public-private partnership investments in our intellectual infrastructure (e.g., facilities, equipment, faculty at universities) to enable first-rate R&D.
Increase in SBIR program and STTR awards and the number of local technology-based companies receiving equity investments.
Increase in patents generated and the number of technologies licensed by companies in the Three Rivers region.
An accredited research university in the Three Rivers region with Ph.D. programs in strategic science and engineering areas and a K-12 system that produces students who can enter and be productive in research institutions and high-tech businesses.

Began working with an economist to establish the baseline for tracking R&D expenditures from public and private sources.
WSU and PNNL are working together to design a Bioproducts, Sciences, and Engineering Laboratory, and state funding for construction will be requested in the 2006-07 budget; PNNL is planning to compete for a new DOE user facility for biology research.
Economic development professionals from PNNL and WSU received additional training to help local firms compete for SBIR/STTR grants.
Battelle established a new $150-million venture fund, called Battelle Ventures, to invest in seed-stage or early-stage companies in life sciences, homeland security, IT, materials, and energy.
The WTC received a grant from the Economic Development Administration (matched by WTC) to set up angel investing networks in under-represented parts of the state, including the Tri-Cities.
One technology license from PNNL was issued to a Tri-Cities-based company in FY03, bringing the local PNNL total to seven since 1995. In addition, a California company opened a Richland office this year after licensing a technology from PNNL.