RSS
1:30-2:00pm Public-Private Partnerships
This session seeks to provide examples of how regions can “build”their local technology infrastructure by integrating models which are driven by private investment, such as research parks. Public financing leverage can be a great partnership with the private sector to maximize the efficiency of the time to “build in”.
§ Mr. Bill Dean, Past President of the Association of University Research Parks of America ; Director, Piedmont Triad Research Park, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
§ Mr. Clyde Higgs, Vice President, Business Development, Castle & Cook, LLC, North Carolina Research Campus, Kannapolis, North Carolina
Presentations
WIRED Biosciences-Public-Private 2-5-08-1.ppt (2 MB)
Clyde Higgs
You need Adobe Flash to play this media. Get the flash player here
Speaker Profiles
Mr. William H.Dean
Past President,Association of University Research Parks of America
Director,Piedmont Triad Research Park
Bill Dean, with the Piedmont Triad ResearchPark in Winston-Salem, NC, and Wake Forest University Health Sciences has over15 years experience in the Research Park industry. The Piedmont Triad Research Park is being developed tostimulate bio-medical technology advancement for diversified economic growth inthe state's twelve county Piedmont Triad region. He is Past President of theAssociation of University Research Parks in Washington, D.C. and hasrepresented the industry at professional meetings and conventions; both in theU.S. and abroad. Mr. Dean hastraveled internationally to Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, United Kingdom,Germany, France, Sweden, and Canada for business development activities. He hasserved on numerous boards including Winston-Salem State Board of Visitors, theBoard of Directors of the Council of Biotechnology Centers, Washington, DC, andthe International Technology Advisory Board of Ulster in Northern Ireland. Wake Forest University Calloway Schoolof Business recognized Mr. Dean as an Honoree of Beta Gamma Sigma in 2002. He is the first recipient to berecognized by the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, Triad Region, for theBiotechnology Service and Support Excellence Award in 2005. Winston-Salem Chamber of Commercerecognized Mr. Dean in 2006 as Champion of Technology Development for hisdedication in developing the Piedmont Triad Research Park. Mr. Dean received the Career AchievementAward of Excellence in 2005 by the Association of University Research Parks inrecognition for advancing the field of Research and Science Parks.
Mr. Dean was formerly Research Park Directorof Cummings Research Park (1993 -1999) in Huntsville, Alabama. Cummings Research Park is recognized asone of the nation's largest research parks and received the award for"Outstanding Research Park Achievement" from AURP (Association of UniversityResearch Parks) in 1997. Mr. Deanheld the position of President and Chief Executive Officer for Colonial Bank inHuntsville, Alabama. He received aBBA Degree in Banking and Finance from the University of Mississippi in 1972,and is also a 1981 graduate of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking atRutgers University. A former bankexaminer, Mr. Dean was graduated from the Federal Reserve School for Examinersin Washington, D.C. in 1974 and in 1975 from the Federal Reserve TrustExaminers School. From 1982 until1990, he served as a faculty member of the Mississippi School of Banking at theUniversity of Mississippi.
Mr. Dean serves in various communityleadership positions in Winston-Salem such as Wake Forest University DemonIncubator Board of Advisors, Forsyth Technical Community College Biotech Training Committee,BioNetwork Pharmaceutical Center Advisory Board, North Carolina BiotechnologyCenter-Triad Advisory Board, Salvation Army Advisory Board, Winston-SalemBusiness Inc. Advisory Board, Downtown Development Corporation Board,Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce Technology-Governmental Affairs Committee,and is a Paul Harris Fellow member of the Winston-Salem Rotary Club along withnumerous economic development professional organizations.
Mr. ClydeHiggs
VicePresident of Business Development
North CarolinaResearch Campus
Clyde Higgs, Castle & Cooke NorthCarolina, LLC's vice president for business development, is in charge ofreaching out to key industry leaders on behalf of the North Carolina ResearchCampus, the nation's most comprehensive, multibillion-dollar biotechnologyproject, which involves corporations, venture capitalists and the state'sleading higher education institutions, such as the University of North Carolinasystem, Duke University and the North Carolina Community College System.
Higgs is primarily responsible forattracting new business and venture capital efforts for the development projectthat is located in Kannapolis, N.C. Higgs reports directly to David H. Murdock,owner of Castle & Cooke, Inc. and Dole Food Company, Inc. and Lynne ScottSafrit, president of Castle & Cooke North Carolina, LLC.
Higgs has attracted major companies to theNC Research Campus, including the Biomarker Group, a pioneer of a diabetes testknown as GlycoMark and Pelican Life Sciences, who will create an internationalresearch and development center. In April 2007, he received praised from thetechnology community when Red Hat, Inc., the world's leading provider of opensource solutions, announced that the company would work with the University ofNorth Carolina system and the NC Research Campus to advance the adoption ofopen source philosophies of standards and collaboration in biotechnology,bioinformatics, public policy and healthcare research.
Most recently, Mr. Murdock announced that hewill be committing $33 million to a leading therapeutic vaccine company. Themonies are being used to fund its operations and its proposed Phase III trialwith the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Higgs is responsible for identifying these types of investments,which will help develop and attract the most promising entrepreneurialcompanies to the NC Research Campus.
Higgs' drive and dedication to thebiotechnology field is widely known. Prior to joining the NC Research Campus,Higgs was the executive director of Tech Fort Worth, a business and technologydevelopment center for the Fort Worth region. He was also appointed by Governor Rick Perry to serve on theTexas Emerging Technology Fund Board, a funding source for early stage,research based companies. Higgs led the overall technology-based economicdevelopment efforts for the City of Fort Worth, raising more than $4 million inexternal program funding.
Higgs earned a B.A. from the University ofSouth Alabama and a master's degree from East Carolina University. He has also held posts as ExecutiveAssistant to the President at the North Carolina Community College System, andas the James E. Webb Management Fellow at the Smithsonian Institution. Higgs serves as a member of severalboards of director, including the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the N.C.Agricultural and Life Sciences Research Foundation and the N.C. Biotechnology'Center's Advisory Group. He also serves as a guest lecturer at the Universityof North Texas and Texas Christian University.
