Luke Planning: February 2001 Newsletter

Henry Luke- Newsletter #19-COMMUNITY VISIONING RESULTS
February 2001

ENCOURAGEMENT-How FSU jumps from near the bottom to #3 in royalties from research in the decade of the 1990’s. In the 1999 survey from the Association of University Technology Manager, Inc. (AUTM), Florida State University was ranked third for royalties from licenses of faculty research with $57.3 million. Only Columbia University ($95.8 million) and the 10-member University of California System ($80.8 million) earned more. How did a football university, that in the first ½ of the 1900’s was a women’s college and with limited research for much of the 1900’s, reach this lofty position? They got in the game by hiring a chemist, Professor Robert Holton in 1986. With NIH funding, he found a new way to synthesize the material used in the cancer drug, Taxol^®

The active compound was first discovered during the 1970’s through work of a researcher at the Research Triangle Institute. Through a competition, Bristol-Myers Squibb, won the right to commercialize the product and then signed a licensing agreement with FSU. They produced a homerun with licensing income of about $1 million in 1993 and $57 million in 1999 from Taxol^®. The FSU Director of Technology Transfer says that the moral of the story is to get in the game, hire brilliant professors, encourage them and reward them. In Florida a university professor receives 40% of the royalty stream from their research that is commercialized.

Another part of the story is that FSU will not have a medical school until this decade. Professor Holton in the chemistry department enhanced research that originated at another institution in another state. This means that any university with Vision, perseverance and luck can be a player and could be the winner of the once in a decade big win. Visit the AUTM web site at http://www.autm.net . Part of the Taxol^® story is in a 1998 product vignette and the ranking can be ordered with the summary report from the order form.

The University and Dr, Holton are reinvesting their income in University research. The University is creating a long-term research endowment with part of the funds. Dr. Holton contributed $6 million and the state and FSU $16 million to create the new Institute of Molecular Recognition.

JACKSONVILLE, FL-Mayo Clinic and its hospital, St. Luke’s opened a heart transplant program. Mayo Jacksonville Transplant abilities now include heart, liver, kidney, pancreas and bone marrow transplants. Lung transplants will be added in March. The new 100,000 square foot Cancer Research Building is scheduled to open in June 2001. This continues the constant growth of Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. http://www.mayo.edu/mcjcams/griffin/index.html

SAGINAW, MI-Saginaw County Vision 2020 was adopted January 30, 2001. Saginaw County set involvement records with 180 at the Focus Groups, over 620 at the Citizen’s Summit and 400 at the Town Hall meeting to review the final draft. There was tremendous interest in the Vision Phase I development process and 65 organizations have already signed up as Vision Partners to help with implementation. Saginaw County is a diverse county of 215,000 people with 37 municipalities, a large automotive manufacturing presence, a major destination tourism component, and Saginaw Valley State University. http://www.saginawcountyvision2020.org/

CABARRUS, NC-Cabarrus County is our 50^th community where we have had the privilege of facilitating Vision driven Strategic Planning. The Lowe’s Motor Speedway is a major attraction in Cabarrus. The Founding Vision Partners, who are providing the funding are Cabarrus County, cities of Kannapolis and Concord, and the Cabarrus Chamber of Commerce.

CURACAO, NETHERLANDS ANTILLES-Henry Luke will return to Curacao on March 29^th for a Town Hall meeting and a review of Benchmarks and Implementation. Implementation began in August 1999. http://www.curinfo.an/vishonkorsou

RICHMOND, VA- Capital One announced a $700 million, 318 acre, 1.5 million square foot expansion. By 2004, 7,000 new jobs will be created.

JACKSONVILLE, FL-Construction for the Aviation Center for Excellence has begun at the former Navy Cecil Field. The Center will train students in aviation technology resulting in aviation mechanics, managers, administrators and professional pilots. Florida Community College of Jacksonville is developing the Center and expects the participation of the Duval County School Board.

WILKES COUNTY, NC-Wilkes County’s high school graduation rate in 1999-2000 was 64.9% up by 8.0% from 56.9% in 1998-1999. The rate in 1996-1997 was 53.1%. The Wilkes Vision 20/20 Key Benchmark is to increase the 9^th to 12^th grade graduation rate at least 3 % annually. The increase results from the hard work of the school system, social workers, parents and the business community.

http://www.wilkesnc.org/vision/

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Henry Luke