Pasadena Bioscience Collaborative (2000-01)
ETG, in collaboration with its brother company, ECG, and the Institute for Biotechnology Information (IBI), and the Smith Group, developed an analytical and participatory approach to assessing the needs, market potential, and feasibility of developing the proposed multi-use biotechnology facility in Pasadena. The overall goal was to enhance the growth of biotechnology industry in the Pasadena regional economy by recommending a state-of-the-art design and defining the mission, role and structural attributes of the new Center. The project team worked with the California State University client team and other regional bioscience industry stakeholders. The strategy process combines innovative analysis of niche markets with collaborative participation by regional industry, institutions, and public entities in the design of the new biotechnology facility. The Pasadena Biosciences Innovation and Training Center was implemented in 2003 and now is known as the Pasadena Bioscience Collaborative and is closely related to the California State Universities Program for Education and Research in Biotechnology (CSUPERB).
Long Beach, California: Defense Conversion and Incubator/Technology Park (1995-96)
Professional with ETG (then a unit of DRI/McGraw-Hill) were asked by California State University Long Beach to develop a conversion strategy for the Cabrillo Navy base. The approach used here was to analyze the surrounding industry clusters in Long Beach and Los Angeles and determine their status, growth and requirements for expansion in the region, then use their requirements to shape a research and technology park complex that would leverage the core competencies of the University. The project provided an economic rationale and design for development of the converted base facilities to new uses. This plan is now being implemented, and ETG went on to design components of the park being developed. In addition, ETG developed the first cluster analysis of the City of Long Beach, and demonstrated how their cluster structure sets the stage for future economic development investments. In a follow-up study with Long Beach we are helped to design a demand-driven regional business incubator that utilized ETG’s approach of avoiding “physical” incubators when not necessary and emphasizing “virtual” incubators wherever possible to accelerate enterprise formation by overcoming market gaps in business services, market information, technology “downstreaming”, production partnerships and financing.
Monterey Bay Education, Science, and Technology Center, Fort Ord (1996)
In 1996, ETG (then a unit of DRI/McGraw-Hill) led a multi-disciplinary team to develop the MBEST center. This study articulated the nature of market demand that, in turn, determined the MBEST Center concept, its physical design, and implementation strategy. A complementary approach was to understand the mix of industries, institutions, and organizations in the region that could be mobilized to pursue identified market opportunities. ETG conducted detailed market niche studies tied to concrete action-oriented marketing plans for each of four clusters, one of which was The Biotechnology Cluster.
Southeast Los Angeles County Defense Adjustment Plan (1995-1996)
ETG professionals (then with DRI/McGraw-Hill) was selected to provide the County of Los Angeles and the cities of Commerce, Downey, Lakewood, Montebello, Pico Rivera, Santa Fe Springs and Whittier with a defense adjustment framework. The team fashioned analytic tools and data bases for the defense adjustment strategy as well as engineered a collaborative strategy process. The resulting action plan mobilizes the diverse communities of Southeast Los Angeles to work together to leverage their defense/aerospace work force, subcontractors and site assets in a highly competitive regional, state and global market place. This project addressed all facets of defense industry adjustment, including patterns of aerospace and defense worker displacement, identifies opportunities and risks arising from cluster growth and decline, and assesses training and retraining resources integrating this information into a data base and cluster development strategy process. The consulting team developed an action plan to create, retain, expand and attract clusters to the Southeast Los Angeles County areas through a strategy that links economic development with specific aerospace/defense adjustment initiatives for displaced workers, subcontractors and sites in a collaborative and strategic process.
Bratislava Innovation Park (1993)
Under contract to the US Agency for International Development members of the ETG project team undertook an unusual assignment to prepare the economic rationale and business plan for a science park for Bratislava, Slovakia. This effort paralleled that of an EC group, but reached a different conclusion. The project team applied principles of economic development to the planning of a technology park that stress the importance of developing industrial clusters as a means for enabling economic growth in regions, and, the emphasize that soft and hard economic infrastructure of accessible technology, available skills, adequate financing, and appropriate physical infrastructure is essential to cluster development. In applying these principles, the project team achieved the following: (1) Evaluated the economy to identify the “seeds” of potential clusters. In doing this, the team identified an emerging information technology cluster comprising over 200 small software companies, and mixture of restructuring hardware and systems firms. (2) Assessed European and international information technology markets that Slovak and Bratislava firms could reasonably compete in, directly or through partnerships–which could drive the region’s future economy forward. (3) Assessed the responsiveness of the regions economic infrastructure to the information technology industries. This identified specific business service needs for the emerging information services cluster. (4) Prepared a business plan that would lead to the creation of a “virtual” innovation park rather than a physical science park. This concept enables establishing a service management business that will broker and provide services needed by the information technology industries, manage a network of existing real estate across the city to “incubate” companies to a point at which they require new and larger facilities. At the point at which the domestic demand and capabilities have grown, the new business organization (Bratislava Innovation Park) would actually become a development partner and core service provider in an actual technology park. The project concluded with provision of a business plan, implementation plan and identification of private investors for the new organization.