RD374 - Industry-Focused Regional Research and Development Centers


Executive Summary:
In 2007, the General Assembly funded a budget initiative to bring university-level research to distressed communities through local research and development centers. The budget allocated $660,000 in FY ’07 and $1,160,000 for FY ’08. The intent of the Regional Research and Development Center (RRDC) grant funding was to strengthen significant industry clusters through product and process design innovations using applied research. The goal of this innovative economic development concept was not only to enhance industrial competitiveness using a distributive research model but to create an on-going research university presence in distressed communities. The desired outcome of active community-based research was to increase the competitiveness of a community’s existing core high wage industries and provide the opportunity for knowledge-based economic development in communities that have been dependent on lower tech-lower skill industries.

The budget language named two distressed localities as initial candidates for this initiative: Lynchburg, around the nuclear cluster and Hopewell around the chemical cluster. The Hopewell initiative remains in a formative stage; this report will focus on the implementation of the initiative in Lynchburg.

The project has been underway for less than a year. To-date 12 projects have been initiated with two having been completed. Because of the nature of the research and the limited timeframe, it is unrealistic to expect job creation at this point. However, one project has already had a direct and significant impact on a company in the nuclear cluster. The RRDC funded research allowed for the accelerated submittal of a nuclear reactor design to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, thus increasing the company’s competitiveness in this highly competitive industry and providing an excellent example of Virginia’s commitment to its existing companies.