Technology  November 23, 2007

Coalition works to keep federal labs in the state

BOULDER – A coalition of local economic development groups, businesses, universities and politicians are looking to raise $150,000 to increase awareness of Colorado’s federal scientific labs.

The formation of CO-LABS Inc., which includes the Boulder Economic Council and the University of Colorado, is a formal effort to keep the federal labs and their economic benefits in the state after several recent setbacks.

A year ago Colorado lost a bid to Wyoming to host a $75 million federal supercomputing lab. Three years ago, the state fended off Oklahoma’s attempt to move several labs out of the state. Next year, the Boulder-based University Corporation of Atmospheric Research could face competition to manage the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

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Any reduction of federal labs in Colorado could cause significant economic losses for the state, said Frances Draper, executive director of both the Boulder Economic Council and CO-LABS. The seven Front Range labs that are part of CO-LABS’ effort represent more than $700 million of federal investments per year, Draper said.

To help quantify the economic impact of that money to Colorado, the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. is funding a $25,000 study being conducted by the CU Leeds School of Business.

“They are such an amazing asset to Colorado, and we want to educate the public about the impact they create both in funding and research,´ said Holli Baumunk, vice president of economic development at Metro Denver EDC.

At the state level, the Colorado Economic Development Commission granted CO-LABS $150,000 in funding during the next three years if the group can match that money. The group received $75,000 this year. It is slated to receive $50,000 in 2008 and $25,000 in 2009. Draper said CO-LABS will raise the matching funds primarily from private organizations.

The state’s goal is to have CO-LABS become a self-sustaining operation, she said.

Technology transfer goal

One of CO-LABS’ goals will be to improve the technology transfer process between the federal labs and private businesses. Technology transfers involve the labs licensing their intellectual property to businesses or seeking help from the private sector to create new technologies.

“Each lab has its own slightly different mission when it comes to technology transfer,´ said David Allen, associate vice president for technology transfer at the University of Colorado, and member of CO-LABS. “There could be a much more unified approach to how businesses contact the labs and understand the technology transfer process.”

One idea would be for CO-LABS to create a central Web site for all of Colorado’s federal labs as a one-stop portal for businesses seeking technology or collaboration, Allen said. He is working with a group of CU law students and local Faegre & Benson attorneys to draft a proposal for the technology transfer program.

“CO-LABS isn’t interested in telling the labs what to do,” Allen said. “It’s about how can we better work together.”

If more technologies and intellectual property start to flow between the labs and local private businesses, then more integration, awareness and economic benefit will follow, Allen said.

Another idea to increase collaboration is for CO-LABS to host forums among the labs, businesses and community on a regular basis.

“We’re looking to create a consistent reliable connection that is repeatable,” Draper said.

BOULDER – A coalition of local economic development groups, businesses, universities and politicians are looking to raise $150,000 to increase awareness of Colorado’s federal scientific labs.

The formation of CO-LABS Inc., which includes the Boulder Economic Council and the University of Colorado, is a formal effort to keep the federal labs and their economic benefits in the state after several recent setbacks.

A year ago Colorado lost a bid to Wyoming to host a $75 million federal supercomputing lab. Three years ago, the state fended off Oklahoma’s attempt to move several labs out of the state. Next year, the Boulder-based University Corporation…

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