Kentucky's 'New Economy' Czar
Dr. William Brundage hopes to lead the Commonwealth to prosperity

As Kentucky’s first Commissioner for the New Economy, William Brundage takes the approach of a scientist. He’s not concerned about the political platitudes. He wants to know what works. This makes sense, because Brundage is a scientist by training, having a Ph.D. in microbiology.

One of the nation’s leading proponents of technological and economic development, Brundage was the first president of the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation, a position he accepted in 1987. The mid-1990s found Brundage leading the Enterprise Florida Technology Development Board.

Perhaps one of the most aggressive and successful programs he created for both Kansas and Florida organizations was the creation of Innovation and Commercialization Centers (ICCs), which provided entrepreneurs with access to research and development facilities, business professionals and expertise needed for the creation of high growth potential technology-based companies.

Coming to Kentucky in late 2000, Brundage was impressed by the Commonwealth’s commitment to further itself socially and economically.

“Kentucky had done a great deal over the last decade, especially under Gov. Paul Patton’s leadership,” Brundage said. “The essential leaders of this state were – and continue to be – united in their commitment to see our state move ahead. Things like education reform, the Bucks for Brains program and the Kentucky Innovation Initiative took a lot of courage and vision to establish.”

That united leadership is unusual in sectors where conflict often occurs.

“Just having the governor behind these sort of programs wouldn’t work,” Brundage said. “But having the executive and legislative branches of government, along with business – that is something special. Kentucky’s government and businesses have put money into this commitment, even during difficult economic times.”

The approach that Kentucky is taking to create and spark participation in the New Economy is atypical, when compared to the initiatives of other states.

“Normally, a state will hire a big nonprofit corporation to write up a strategic plan,” Brundage said, “Then, the strategic plan ends up sitting on shelf collecting dust. Nobody buys into it. Typically, most of these nonprofit corporations would tell us to concentrate on Kentucky’s ‘Golden Triangle’ area. But Gov. Patton wanted Kentucky’s rural areas included in the plan.”

The result was the creation of nine interlocking strategic plans for nine areas of the state. The Commission for the New Economy divided the state into four regions and created strategic planning groups for those areas. Strategically, the plans address three basic concepts: the research and development (“R&D”) of products and services, the commercialization of these, and the area’s workforce.

An early study authorized by Brundage’s office was commissioned to discover what Kentucky’s ‘industry clusters’ are. (For example, Kentucky has a very visible automotive industry cluster.) “They told us that Kentucky has no New Economy clusters,” Brundage said. “We’re setting out to change that.”

The Office for the New Economy also authorized an entrepreneurial analysis of the state by Stanford Research International. What the study discovered was that the Commonwealth contains visionary and creative entrepreneurs who are eager to take the state forward.

One of the first and most important goals of the state addresses the state’s “R&D” commitment.

“We have two research universities with UK and U of L,” Brundage said. “Right now, they have about $200 million in ongoing research project expenditures combined. To reach critical mass, we have to see them make $500 million in expenditures by 2010. If we don’t achieve that goal, we won’t fare well. It’s absolutely essential.

“With our studies, we identified technology clusters in Kentucky where there’s a great deal going on. These are the areas we have to get the state – government, education and private business – to invest in.”

Those technology clusters include:

• Human health and development
• Information technology and communications
• Environmental and energy technologies
• Materials science and advanced manufacturing

The Office for the New Economy has also identified seven areas of “special opportunity.” Building on strengths that already exist, these areas are:

• Natural Products, which builds on the state’s agricultural tradition and could create products in the food production, veterinary and bioscience sectors
• Center for the Development of Circulatory Assist Devices, which continues work already done regarding artificial heart transplants at Jewish Hospital in Louisville
• “Kentucky First,” which will be an investment and recruitment partnership between the state and the private sector to encourage entrepreneurship
• “Kentucky Visioning Center,” which will utilize state-of-the-art visualization centers in various industries throughout the state
• Kentucky Energy and Environmental Consortium, which is being established to address energy and environmental issues to the mutual benefit of industry and the environment
• Safety and security, a growth industry, especially since the 9/11 attacks, would be addressed with resources at Eastern Kentucky University’s school of law enforcement and Fort Knox, among other sites
• the Rural New Economy Business Building Initiative, which will utilize a newly proposed Technology Extension Service to help spark entrepreneurship and prosperity in the state’s less populous areas.

Emphasizing that the entire state needs to get behind the vision for Kentucky’s participation in the New Economy, Brundage said that education will play a vital part in the state’s success.

“It’s a major player – and not just the universities,” he said. “In an information- and technology-based economy, you need a workforce that is committed to learn and keep on learning. We’re off to a healthy start with this. We’re doing some revolutionary things here, where other states are having a hard time getting off the ground.”

Claude Hammond is editorial director of The Lane Report.
editorial@lanereport.com

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