Capacity & Commitment

Iowa State University has an overall plan for engagement and service that covers a broad range of evolving community development, economic development, and technology transfer activities (see below).

Economic Development Council: All technology transfer and economic development work at Iowa State is coordinated by this council. Membership includes representatives from all colleges and central units engaged in technology transfer, economic development, and outreach to communities, including: the Institute for Physical Research and Technology (IPRT) Company Assistance, the Center for Industrial Research and Service (CIRAS), the ISU Research Park, the ISU Research Foundation, the Small Business Development Center (SBDC), the Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship, the Center for Transportation Research and Education (CTRE), the Iowa Energy Center, the Biotechnology Program, and the Plant Sciences Institute. The units and colleges along with representatives from the Office of the Vice Provost for Research, the Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, and ISU Extension are organized into teams that deliver economic development and technology transfer services. As described below, these teams bring together the appropriate research units and service facilities.

Business Development & Assistance Team: Focused primarily on new businesses, this team provides a consistent message and efficient, affordable assistance to potential companies and start-ups. A secondary focus is business assistance for existing companies.

Technical Assistance & Technology Development Team: This team focuses its efforts primarily on existing businesses, helping them by solving technical problems and assisting in product development and process improvement projects. A second focus is working with the Business Development & Assistance Team in product development for start-up businesses. This includes the current efforts of no-cost technical assistance and cost-sharing projects.

Industry Relations Team: Industry Relations facilitates interactions and manages research relationships with start-ups, companies funding basic research projects, economic development groups, legislative groups, and other third parties that interact with Iowa State on economic development issues.

Community Development Team: The Community Development Team has a primary mission of distributing knowledge and interacting with communities. The team works with community organizations to disseminate and develop programming offered through Iowa State, facilitate community organization and training that allow communities to better take advantage of Iowa State resources and other development programs, and help foster community planning that allows for economic development.

Effective and efficient operation, open communication, and coordination of economic development activities are core to all of these efforts. Demonstrating the value of these activities is a guiding principle for all units involved with this work. In a recent report prepared for the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, it was estimated that there are 75 professional and scientific staff in various units across campus whose principal responsibilities are technology transfer and economic development.