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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2009 > December > 27
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Editorial: UD move will help job growth
Expanding the University of Dayton Research Institute into a world-class facility at the former NCR world headquarters is a huge step forward as part of the region’s strategy to create jobs by supporting cutting-edge, high-tech study.
UDRI — with its connections to institutions — is crucial to that strategy.
Critics might believe the attractive property could have lured another major company, bringing big bucks and new jobs. But the building is so big, the private economy so weak and the competition for big employers so intense that that view is detached from reality.
Everyone, UD included, would have preferred that NCR stay in town and stay an active part of the community. But the danger at hand was that the building would stay empty and become a symbol of decline. Now, it will instead represent hope.
The community needs growing new companies that will care about Dayton — in a way NCR long ago stopped caring — to replace those lost jobs with better, more stable ones over time. UDRI is a prime vehicle to make that happen.
With this move, UD takes an even bigger step toward dominating the former NCR land at the south end of downtown Dayton, all the way from its front door to the Great Miami River. The university’s growth, especially given its commitment to the city and its great track record of productive partnering, is good for the region.
Ohio Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, even remarked at the announcement of the purchase that a bigger, more influential university and research institute might be as valuable to Dayton as a Fortune 500 company.
NCR’s departure was a painful example of how depending heavily on a large company can backfire. As much as Daytonians liked to think of NCR as inextricably bound to the city where it was born, executives for the last several years clearly didn’t view it that way. They downsized, moved their executive offices to New York City, stopped talking to local political leaders and, ultimately, blew out of town completely.
UDRI already has strong connections with Wright State University, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and many growing technology companies, not to mention UD itself. Plus, it isn’t going to be looking to move some day.
Now there will be more, stronger connections. Part of the vision is for research space to be set aside within UDRI, adjacent to the major labs, for commercial partners. Carefully chosen startups will be matched to specific research with the goal of transferring technology to products that can be commercialized. That approach echoes the successful strategies employed in Silicon Valley.
Dayton will boast a showcase research center highlighting the region’s connection to, and commitment to, the high-tech economy. That will help Dayton make an ever stronger case that it is a good place for innovators to be.
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