America loves lists, so here’s another one — the most innovative states in America. According to Richard Florida, director of the University of Toronto’s Martin Prosperity Institute, who compiled such a list for the news website The Daily Beast, California tops the list, followed by Massachusetts.
California has Silicon Valley and Stanford University and is home to innovative companies like Intel, Apple and Google. Massachusetts has MIT (among dozens of other universities) and a pocket of techy companies based around Cambridge and Boston.
The list included only the top 20 most innovative states. Kentucky was not among them.
“It’s a cultural situation. In California and Massachusetts, there has been a long history of innovation. We’ve had our fair share of successful innovations in Kentucky, but we’ve not had [as many] or the support infrastructure in place for innovation,” remarked Kim Sayre, who works in career services for the University of Kentucky’s College of Engineering.
A national plan is in the works that could change that scenario for Kentucky.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) put out a solicitation for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) to help foster greater productivity, technological performance and global competitiveness for U.S. manufacturers.
Kentucky is working to form such a partnership.
Two proposals for Kentucky-based partnerships are being considered by the NIST. The University of Kentucky’s College of Engineering and the University of Louisville’s Speed School of Engineering teamed up and submitted an MEP proposal. So did Western Kentucky University. The proposals are being evaluated, and the winners will be announced soon.
Eventually, recruiting efforts will sign up small and medium-size Kentucky manufacturers to work in the partnership to improve their output.
The deans at the UK and UofL engineering schools agreed to team up for a singular proposal.
“That’s not common,” Sayre said with a laugh, alluding perhaps to the two schools’ sports rivalry. On a more serious note, Sayre added, “UofL has some strength that complements UK, and vice versa.”
In their proposal, the two schools suggest they would “help the manufacturer identify problem areas and create an innovative strategy.” Those strategies might include stepping up lean or sustainable manufacturing, implementing new technologies, products and processes or identifying new markets.
The U.S. Commerce Department has hired a highly innovative company called Eureka! Ranch International, based near Cincinnati as a consultant to provide growth and innovation services and training. Scott Broughton carries the unusual title of innovation engineering black belt.
Broughton was asked what the missing link might be for some companies.
“They simply don’t have the courage and know-how to grow. They’re scared and don’t want to make the wrong move. They have limited resources and can’t afford to make a wrong choice,” said Broughton.
The consultant said companies need to understand the ramifications of their choices and bring focus and structure to the so-called “fuzzy front-end” of product development. “This doesn’t have to be scary,” he added.
The U.S. Department of Commerce doesn’t want to be directly involved with any of the manufacturers who agree to join the MEP, said Broughton.
“[Commerce] wants them to be able to do it themselves,” he said.
Western Kentucky University’s proposal emphasizes resources that would be available to manufacturers through faculty and students.
“If a company needed prototyping or help with design of their factory, they would have faculty and students available for back-up. It would be great education for students,” explained Blaine Ferrell, WKU’s associate vice president for research. “Universities would know what industry needs, and industry would know what’s available at universities.”
Everyone must work together with a marketing scheme and contacts in order to create a ready network with manufacturers, Ferrell added.
“If you don’t manufacture something, you can’t generate an economy. You can’t just live off of a service economy,” he said.
Ferrell also issued a warning: “The world has changed dramatically. Students will need to know high-tech skills to survive in the next go-around. We want to make sure our manufacturers are looking ahead.”
“We look forward to working with the MEPs, whoever they are,” said Ken Carroll of the Kentucky Association of Manufacturers, some members of which will join in the partnership. “Manufacturing is the No. 1 economic driver in this state. Once this is up and fully operational, it will be an asset to the commonwealth.”