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 The Research Triangle region of North Carolina is an area with separate, linked communitiesmid-size cities, small towns and rural areas. No one city defines the Triangle region, as in other major metropolitan areas such as Atlanta , Boston or Washington , D.C . The region is anchored by Duke University in Durham , the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University in Raleigh . In 1959, these universities worked together with business and industry leaders to creat Research Triangle Park , where there are now over 110 research and development facilities for technology firms like IBM, Nortel Networks, Cisco Systems, Credit Suisse First Boston, and Network Appliance. Within the region is one of the nation?s largest concentrations of college graduates as well as the world's highest concentration of contract-research organizations. The region is home to 53 percent of the state?s high tech jobs, and consistantly ranks high in livability indexes among large metropolitan areas.
The Research Triangle Regional Partnership is responsible for marketing the 13-county region. Initially formed by community leaders in 1990 to market the Raleigh Durham Chapel Hill area, the partnership grew to the current configuration in four years. A public private partnership of economic development agencies, the RTRP provides a range of services to help existing businesses in the region grow and aid local economic development partners in attracting prospective firms. Such services include data analysis and customized research to prospective companies and its partners; media relations; a ?smart? meeting room; virtual property searches and site selection services; and organizing marketing and recruitment trips.
The Research Triangle Park is the heart of the region?s economic system. Encompassing over 7,000 acres and over 40,000 employees, the Park has been a technology magnet since the late 1950s. The success of the Research Triangle Park , and its positive impact on the region, has captured the imagination of leaders throughout the nation. However, regional leaders realized they were not immune from the adverse effects of economic downturns. The high concentration of technology companies were vulnerable to the job losses of recent tech busts.
Recognizing that past successes do not guarantee future prosperity, the RTRP organized a task force to develop strategies to ensure future competitiveness for the region. The 36-member task force, comprised of business, academic and nonprofit leaders, identified industry clusters to target and grow in the region. Collaboration among the region?s communities emerged as a critical strategy for the Future Competitiveness strategies. Such collaboration extended to the region?s smaller and rural communities? roles in the region?s economic development. ?Mini-hubs? and ?mid-tech? strategies are being developed by a number of rural communities to leverage their proximity to the Research Triangle Park and channel job opportunities to smaller communities. Such communities hope that inclusion in the strategic vision of the region will offset jobs lost to downturns in textiles and tobacco farming and transform as satellites for members of the creative class who could forgo the hour long commute to the Raleigh Durham area .
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