Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 20, 1994 TAG: 9411220030
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: F-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The CIT has had a hard time justifying its existence since it was set up by the General Assembly 10 years ago. Its mission was, and is, to link new technologies being developed at state universities with Virginia businesses and industries.
Since the nonprofit corporation came under the leadership of former Gov. Linwood Holton five years ago, it has better focused on that mission. It has nurtured entrepreneurial ventures trying to gain a foothold with new products, and helped establish businesses that need innovative technology to remain competitive and grow.
In matching university research capabilities with companies' needs, the CIT has co-funded 782 technology projects involving 828 businesses.
The center can provide all kinds of numbers showing it has been busy:
1,427 companies have been industrial sponsors at Technology Development Centers and Institutes on the campuses of four of Virginia's research universities, notably including Virginia Tech.
More than 1,900 projects have been undertaken in the past four years by the Technology Assistance and Transfer Program, which operates in partnership with the Virginia Community College System. The centers, including those at Virginia Western and New River community colleges, help existing small and medium businesses get scientific and technical information.
26 Virginia manufacturers have modernized plant operations with the help of the CIT's Manufacturing Action Program.
More than 75 companies have had CIT help in converting from defense contracting to civilian markets.
Missing from all the numbers is the one statistic that might satisfy skeptics: the number of jobs the CIT has helped to create. This is hard to pinpoint because private companies are loath to make public information that might in any way dull their competitive edge. More significant, higher productivity, increased market share and an expanding work force usually are the result of many factors. The CIT gets involved in projects only in partnership with others.
But that's not to say its impact has been negligible.
Probably its biggest single job-creating success has been at Bristol Compressors, which was making a noisy air-conditioning compressor. Working with researchers at Virginia Tech, the company designed a quieter product, increased its market share, expanded its operations and, since late 1991, has added more than 1,200 jobs in Southwest Virginia.
Holton has left his post at the CIT, but his faith in its value to Virginia is unflagging. His successor, former Thomas Nelson Community College President Robert G. Templin Jr., is convinced that attracting companies to the state depends heavily on their being able to have good working relationships with its universities. He's right.
As the global economy overtakes all, Virginia needs to position itself as, among other things, a home for clean, high-tech industries that will flourish in the future. More traditional manufacturing jobs will be - are - moving overseas.
To attract and keep cutting-edge industries, the state must create a climate that encourages research and development and eases their translation into commercial products. That is the CIT's job. Let it get on with it.
by CNB