July 2005

Staying on Top

The Research Triangle Region?s vision is to be a world leader in intellectual capacity, education and innovation to enhance productivity and economic growth and achieve a superior quality of life for all our citizens.

The Research Triangle Regional Partnership (RTRP) is a public-private partnership of economic development agencies that works collaboratively with the North Carolina Department of Commerce to market the 13-county Research Triangle Region of North Carolina for the economic benefit of its communities.

RTRP is leading a new regional economic development strategy, known as ?Staying on Top:  Winning the Job Wars of the Future.?  The goal of this $5 million, 5-year plan is to create 100,000 new jobs and boost employment in all 13 counties of the region.

Staying on Top grew from the findings of a 2001 study by Harvard University economist Dr. Michael Porter.  In his report ?Clusters of Innovation,? Porter concludes that the region required a new economic vision to remain competitive.

The plan calls upon dozens of organizations, called ?institutional partners,? to pursue five strategies:

1. Organize economic development strategies around industry clusters where the Research Triangle Region has a demonstrated or emerging competitive advantage.
2. Create plentiful job opportunities using a balanced economic development approach of targeted recruitment, global brand recognition, business creation and existing business retention and innovation.
3. Integrate the region?s higher education resources into all economic development efforts.
4. Develop creative, inclusive approaches to improve rural prosperity.
5. Create agile leadership networks to respond to market challenges, changes and opportunities.

Partners will focus on ten industry clusters, chosen based on the region?s leadership in research and development:

1. Pharmaceuticals
2. Biological agents and infectious diseases
3. Agricultural biotechnology
4. Pervasive computing
5. Advanced medical care
6. Analytical instrumentation
7. Nanoscale technologies
8. Informatics
9. Vehicle component parts
10. Logistics and distribution

The Research Triangle region has benefited from the vision of key public and private sector leaders, who recognize that a regional approach is key.  Regional business leaders created the Research Triangle Regional Partnership in 1990 because they realized that collaboration was the best way to attract new investments.  Since that time, local, state, and national policy makers together with economic developers are working to crate innovative regional strategies.

Staying on Top calls for focusing and coordinating the region?s business, academic, and economic development resources on a shared vision for creating jobs, using the five strategies outlined above.

Porter?s model focuses on increasing innovation to raise production. That, in turn, raises the standard of living. Increasing innovation that flows from the region?s universities, that occurs when people and companies share ideas, and that is born from the creativity of our people has been a central theme of this effort.

Regional business and academic leaders have developed a new vision to guide our economic development that is based on the belief that successful regions no longer depend on natural resources or low-cost manufacturing, but on the intellectual abilities of their people.

For more information about the Research Triangle Regional Partnership and the Staying on Top Strategic Plan, visit the RTRP website at www.researchtriangle.org.