Author: Dr. Keith Debbage
Across the country, the biotechnology industry has become a focal point of economic growth, and the Triad is no exception to this rule. A UNCG study released this summer has assessed, for the first time, the Triad’s biotech strengths and weaknesses. It also compares the region to other metropolitan economies with strong biotechnology sectors.
We used federal and state data from 2003 to compare the Triad’s biotech industry with that of 40 other metropolitan areas. Overall, the Research Triangle is the leading biotechnology cluster in the state. The Triad is beginning to emerge as a substantial secondary employment center that offers competitive salaries and a distinctive employment mix that bodes well for the future.
By focusing on the bio-manufacturing sector and developing a co-operative Triad-Triangle ‘megalopolis’ strategy regarding biotechnology, the Triad can establish a national identity and enhance the region’s competitive advantage in biotech. The biotech report will be used by the Triad Chambers to more effectively promote biotechnology in the region and to set priorities over the next decade.
Working with me on the report were Andrew Brod, Director of the Office of Business and Economic Research at UNCG; Don Jud, professor emeritus at the Bryan School of Business and Economics at UNCG; and Guy Nuyda, doctoral candidate in the geography program at UNCG. The report was jointly funded by the Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and High Point Chambers of Commerce, and the North Carolina Biotechnology Center.
Both myself and the Department of Geography at UNCG have a long-standing tradition of using the Triad as a laboratory for applied research. My previously funded research initiatives included conducting a visitor survey for the North Carolina Zoological Park, three land-use corridor studies for the City of Greensboro Planning Department, and an on-going research project focused on growing a transport logistics industry cluster in the Triad in co-operation with North Carolina A&T State University, the Greensboro Economic Development Partnership, and the Piedmont Triad Partnership.
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