Investments Helping to Boost Important Health Care, Higher-Ed Sectors
Colleges, universities, academic medical institutions and research institutions across Pennsylvania will be better able to recruit top faculty researchers and get products to the marketplace faster with a new $2.5 million investment announced today by Governor Edward G. Rendell.
The Governor said the investment is in the form of 10 Keystone Innovation Starter Kit awards and 17 Innovation Grants.
"We've worked over the past seven-and-a-half years to capitalize on our world-class institutions of higher learning and research because they are tremendous economic engines," said Governor Rendell. "We've seen great success in this approach and, with investments like the ones we're announcing today, we're strengthening Pennsylvania's competitive position in a critical sector of our economy— an area that I call 'meds and eds.'"
The Governor explained that "meds and eds" refers to Pennsylvania's higher education and health care industries. Together, the two industries today account for one out of every five jobs in Pennsylvania.
These types of institutions are often at the heart of Pennsylvania's Keystone Innovation Zones, or KIZ, a program that supports partnerships among communities, universities and businesses to move new technologies out of the lab and into marketplace to create new companies and new jobs.
The Keystone Innovation Starter Kit and the Innovation Grant programs are linked to the KIZ program, which has leveraged about $14 million in state funds to attract nearly $1 billion from private sources—or more than $68 in private funding for every state dollar invested. That funding has helped launch 725 new companies, creating more than 4,000 jobs and retaining another 9,300 positions.
The Keystone Innovation Starter Kit initiative is designed to recruit top faculty researchers in advanced knowledge areas to universities throughout Pennsylvania. Discretionary funds can also be used to develop labs, staff and equipment in order to leverage private funding for research.
With the $1 million announced today through the program, 10 top faculty researchers will be recruited to Pennsylvania colleges and universities. These researchers will design curriculum in areas that educate students and help develop new products and technologies in industries such as alternative energy and life sciences. Since the start of the program, more than 150 jobs have been created; 56 of which have been faculty positions.
The $1.5 million in Innovation Grants the Governor announced will help 17 academic medical institutions, non-profit research institutions, and universities increase technology transfer from their institutions to the marketplace.
As a result of this program, more than 300 well-paying, high-skill jobs and 72 start-up companies have been created, and 760 technologies and nearly 30 new products have been developed.
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