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By DAN O'BRIEN, Sun Staff
The sooner that Massachusetts businesses realize that federal research funding is drying up, the better, says Ranch Kimball, the state's secretary of economic development.
To that end, Kimball's office is today launching a new initiative, Massachusetts Business Connect, that is designed to grow the commonwealth's job base and boost competitiveness.
"There was a time federal research money doubled every five years; more recently, though, it's been declining at a rate of 1 percent a year," Kimball said in a briefing last Friday. "We need to get more diverse sources of funding."
The announcement also comes as the Bay State is adding jobs at a much slower rate than that of the nation. While 200,000 or so jobs were lost during the 2001 recession, only about a quarter of that number have been created in the recovery since.
"There is nationwide competition for the cream of the job crop," Kimball said.
A recent example: The proposal to get New York drug giant Bristol-Myers Squibb to expand to Devens, bringing some 550 jobs along with it.
Kimball said Massachusetts Business Connect aims to identify the priority growth needs -- be it funding sources, labor or new potential customers -- of industry-leading firms, then connecting them with innovative Massachusetts businesses and research centers to address those needs.
"We have found that some companies are complaining that it is hard to get connected, and that it's hard to get access to small, innovative firms and academic laboratories," Kimball said. "We're not as connected as we should be."
Christopher Anderson, who is executive director of the Massachusetts High Technology Council, said the network was "an important step to continue the momentum we gained from the recent decision on (military) base closings."
The so-called Base Realignment and Closure process not only saved Hanscom Field, but suggested that up to 1,000 more jobs could be headed there.
"What we learned from BRAC is that we have huge potential with the Pentagon," Anderson said. "This network will coordinate strategy supported by the state to bring opportunity to Massachusetts firms, which will accelerate their rate of growth."
Kimball sees the process happening in four steps:
* Indentify industry-leading firms with growth needs.
* Work with them to get a detailed list of what they need, be it suppliers, technology innovation or labor. One recent example is the case where defense-related companies needed information on new federal accounting rules.
* Business leaders and facilitators meet with academians, companies, venture capitalists and whatever resources meet their needs.
* Create an intense and customized set of meetings between all concerned parties.
Kimball said the model has already worked with one new employer -- Proctor & Gamble Co., which bought Gillette Co. last year. Kimball said business executives, venture capitalists and academic researchers expressed interest in working more closely with the Cincinnati-based conglomerate, with the result being connections to more than 100 business and active leaders and 10 deals under "active negotiation."
"We have to stop playing defense and get on offense," Kimball said. "This plan will work off the inherent advantages of our economy -- its innovative technology companies, highly educated workforce, and world-class research facilities."
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