Pacific Perspective
Pacific Perspective
Future for Hawaiian
entrepreneurs is
in KakaakoThe University of Hawaii's much-publicized new medical school in Kakaako has rightly been hailed as major step forward for research and medical education in our state.
The new Burns School of Medicine and accompanying biomedical research facility will turn an already acclaimed program and research institution into one of the leaders in the nation. However, somewhat less well articulated has been what may be even more impressive opportunities for entrepreneurship and economic growth as a result of the new facility.
We can confidently predict that along with around more than $100 million of National Institutes of Health research dollars the new school will attract 50 to 60 new faculty researchers, each of whom will bring approximately $1 million in research funding. Thus there may be as much as $200 million being poured into the local economy annually. What happens to this money?
At first blush, the money is used for buying equipment and supplies, paying researchers' and assistants' salaries, and supporting the general expenses and mission of the university. However, this is a somewhat limited way to think of this money. I prefer to view the startlingly large amount as a generous R&D budget provided by the federal government that will allow for the emergence of a major new life sciences industry in Hawaii.
This view is certainly no fantasy. As David Kessler, former U.S. Food and Drug Administration chief and current Yale Medical School dean, noted in a recent visit to Honolulu, the city stands to be transformed by the new medical school the way the biomedical center at Yale has revitalized New Haven. Other cities -- from Boston to Austin to San Diego -- have similarly benefited from the biomedical revolution unfolding around their universities. The key is to create a seamless partnership between university research and administrators and the private sector, to promote and commercialize the wonderful and life-changing discoveries and technologies that will be produced at Kakaako.
Clearly, some of this will happen whether we plan for it or not: Entrepreneurs have a way of succeeding in the unlikeliest of circumstances. However, if we are to see a systematic approach to maximizing the impact that this opportunity offers to the state, we are going to have to step outside our preconceived roles and notions.
The University of Hawaii is going to have to start seeing itself as in the business of helping entrepreneurs succeed, rather than being in business to protect (read, stifle) intellectual property developed in its labs. Entrepreneurs are going to have to educate themselves in the language and process of "big science" as funded by the NIH, and venture capital is going to have to learn to talk with people with PhDs rather than with MBAs who already understand the lingo.
The Entrepreneurship Center at the UH College of Business is dedicating itself to helping make this happen, and will have offices at the new medical school. It is my hope that we will be joined by researchers, university administrators, business people and state officials in this most exciting opportunity that lies ahead.
Rob Robinson is the Barry and Virginia Weinman Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship and E-business at the University of Hawaii College of Business Administration. Reach him at robinson@CBA.Hawaii.edu.