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Tech focus draws concerns
Some at summit wonder if the region needs to promote other industries
by Eric Anderson, Albany Times-Union
August 15, 2007

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- With corporate and government laboratories, research universities, and programs to help technology firms grow, the Capital Region has been touted as the next Silicon Valley or Research Triangle.

Now, some here are questioning whether the region is emphasizing technology at the expense of other approaches. Their concerns surfaced Tuesday morning during an economic summit in Saratoga Springs.

The 2007 Economic Summit: Entrepreneurship and Growth in Upstate New York drew dozens of academic, business and political figures to the Gideon Putnam Resort and Spa for a morning of workshops, followed by a keynote speech delivered by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute President Shirley Ann Jackson.

A Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, The Public Forum Institute, presented the event. U.S. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-Greenport, served as honorary summit chairwoman.

During a workshop on entrepreneurship, some participants suggested economic developers might want to broaden their approach beyond technology.

"We're putting our eggs into that technology basket," said David Kenyon, who owns a consulting firm. "We should ... start to recruit these military industries to come up here."

"I'm a big fan of technology entrepreneurship, but that can't be our only focus," said Ron Deutsch of Microbiz New York, a coalition that supports the development of microenterprises statewide. "We also need to focus on the mom-and-pop shops.

"We have business incubators in the Capital Region right now, but many of them are unfilled or at half capacity," he added.

That drew a rebuke from Michael Tentnowski, who heads the RPI Incubator program.

"Rensselaer's program is at full capacity," he said, adding that the Troy school has partnered with two other area incubators to expand its capabilities.

Economic developers have seen technology as the Capital Region's competitive edge and say the jobs that technology firms create typically pay above average and would provide career opportunities for the thousands of students who graduate each year from area universities.

Despite the region's emphasis on technology, many venture capitalists aren't seeing as many deals as they once did, said Sarah Wills of New Jobs for New York, a nonprofit launched four years ago with the assistance of U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

"How can we inspire students coming out of the universities to start companies?" she asked.

But another member of the audience, Ralph Remualdo, said the problem is even more basic: how to keep young people from leaving.

A supporting infrastructure is important, suggested several speakers, including keynote speaker Jackson of RPI.

Jackson compared the need for high-speed connectivity to the Internet to the effort in the 1930s to bring electricity to rural areas of the United States.

"An appropriate infrastructure is essential for economic growth," she said in a talk that also covered energy security and efficiency, the upcoming talent gap as baby-boomer scientists and engineers retire and fewer young people pursue science and math careers, and the need to invest in research.

And she said a local economy based on innovation would go a long way toward keeping young people in the Capital Region.

Learn more about the 2007 Economic Summit: Entrepreneurship and Growth in Upstate New York

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