The Texas Lyceum - Leadership For Texas By Texans Since 1980

Introduction

Texas economic development initiatives have been a major public policy focus for state officials in the most recent past. To further discussion on Texas economic development topics, the Texas Lyceum published the 2006 Journal in conjunction with its public conference held in San Antonio in November 2006. The goal of both the conference and the Journal was to stimulate the discussion between public and private sector stakeholders on future Texas economic development activities.

Overview

Economic development activities have helped diversify and grow the burgeoning Texas economy. The multifaceted components that go into creating a successful Texas economic development policy are wide ranging, and share varying degrees of support throughout the State. This issue of the Journal covers topics that cut to the core of economic development – research and development, access to seed capital, venture capital funds and private equity funds, higher education, and commercialization, to name a few.

Read the Journal here

Table of Contents

• Table of Contents

Letters to the Public

• Editor's letter
• Chairman's letter

Articles

• Why Texas Needs a Third Flagship University by William H. Cunningham and Samuel Barshop.
  Texas’ competitiveness in the global knowledge-based economy means that the State needs at least one more flagship graduate research university.
  
  
• The National Association of Seed and Venture Funds by Susan P. Strommer, George Lipper, with contributions from Daniel Sandler, Excerpted with permission
  This report is a 50-state survey of seed capital and venture capital funds and the support structures that ensure that entrepreneurs have access to the capital they need to launch and grow companies.
  
  
• High Growth Entrepreneurship in Texas: Entering a Vicious Cycle
  by Stephen Straus
  Texas is facing a decrease in the availability of early-stage venture capital. Aggressive efforts are needed to grow state-level resources to reverse this downward spiral.
  
  
• The Importance of Venture Capital to the Texas Economy by Bob Boldt and Trey Thompson
  Capital has not flowed to Texas as freely as possible because the state’s major institutional investors, including UTIMCO, have not adequately supported Texas’ venture community by committing large amounts of capital to the state’s venture capital funds.
  
  
• SBIR/STTR Opportunities in Texas by Jill Dickman
  The SBIR/STTR federal programs provide a substantial opportunity to Texas small technology companies through low-risk capital and substantial assistance to small companies.
  
  
• Tapping Department of Defense Commercialization Opportunities in Texas: The Next Frontier by Wes Jurey
  Scientific Research fuels economic growth through discovery. Discovery drives Innovation; Innovation drives the Market; and the Market drives the Economy. To Texas, therefore, science = jobs.
  
  
• The Texas Industry Cluster Initiative: “The Engines of Our Economy” by Randy Buchanan, Barbara Cambron, Kaki Leyens, Doug Ridge
  “The Industry Cluster Initiative is the most important economic development tool in the state today.” —Texas Governor Rick Perry
  
  
• This is not a Cluster Study: A New Approach to Regional Competitiveness, Innovation,and Strategy by Eliza R. Evans and Michael C. Sekora
  Technology strategic planning provides a framework for assessing technological strengths of a given region or industry and for developing a technology strategy that creates a competitive advantage in the global marketplace.
  
  
• Commercializing University Research: Gift and Opportunity by Meg Wilson
  Universities can be hard to work with, operating under a different culture from the market economy they are being asked to be more a part of. There are approaches that take this cultural difference into account, which have the potential to help accelerate the success of university commercialization processes.
  
  
• Torch Program – Birthed in Texas, Grown Up in China, Returning to Texas/Mexico: An Entrepreneurship Creation Program for the Success of Chinese High Tech Industry by Dinghuan Shi and Ted Y. Li
  A key secret: China’s economic miracle from the Torch Initiative was birthed in Texas through a pilot program developed from the incubator model created by Dr. George Kozmetsky at IC2 of UTAustin and Omega International Group, Inc.
  
  
• Beyond Schools: A New Foundation for Education in the 21st Century by Gary Thompson
  Texas can be a true innovator as we go beyond schools to create a new foundation for education in the 21st Century. As the world flattens, so too must education. Linking this flattened system will allow Texas to build a true talent pipeline that leverages our education assets in new ways and strengthens our future workforce and economic development.
  
  
• Confessions of a Big Game Hunter by Bill Sproull
  The time has come for economic developers to learn how to hunt gazelles; disruptive emerging growth companies. For too long the profession has only known how to hunt big game, but the herd is thinning!
  
  

Your Opinion

What do YOU think? Do you agree or disagree with our authors? What steps do you think the state needs to take to accelerate Economic Growth? What should we fix – stop doing – start doing?

Email us your ideas at ideas@texaslyceum.org.

We will collate them with the feedback we receive from the conference, and publish the results in the post–conference Journal. These collated thoughts will also be presented to the leadership and legislature for their consideration leading into the next session.