Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Cold War relic becomes a technology-transfer "machine" for Tennessee companies

By Charles Dexter Ward

Today, the "T" in Tennessee stands for "technology." The Volunteer State and technology first became synonymous when the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) built a research complex at Oak Ridge during World War II to support the Manhattan Project.

The fall of the Berlin Wall effectively ended the national defense mission that had created the properties, which include hundreds of buildings filled with some of the most advanced high-tech equipment in the world. However, one of the properties has taken on a new multifaceted role in establishing technology companies in East Tennessee.
"Rather than allow the Oak Ridge site to become a toxic relic of the Cold War, the federal government and community leaders rallied together to create a vision for the property-one that capitalized on its reputation for advanced technology," explained Lawrence T. Young, president and CEO of the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee (CROET).

"For the past seven years my organization, created as an integral part of that vision, has been developing and subleasing DOE property and equipment in Oak Ridge. We've turned these properties into the East Tennessee Technology Park, which includes Heritage Center, a "brownfield" site with several million square feet of manufacturing, office, and laboratory facilities; and Horizon Center, a pristine, 1000-acre, high-tech business park," he said.

CROET has been widely successful in leveraging the rich tradition of R&D at Oak Ridge for the future of high-tech research and manufacturing. In fact, the International Development Research Council recently named CROET one of 12 finalists for a Global Innovators Award that recognizes organizations that apply new ideas to corporate real estate and workplace management.

"Such awards are a great honor," said Young, "but as economic developers, our focus is on helping the private sector make the best use of the thousands of highly skilled, experienced technology workers located in Oak Ridge, and the incredible infrastructure we already have in place."
"Our facilities are ideal for all types of industry and offer easy access to the sources of knowledge and equipment that are part of Oak Ridge's unrivaled heritage of cutting-edge research and technology development," he said, pointing to world-class area resources including the Oak Ridge Centers for Manufacturing Technology, the National Transportation Research Center, Spallation Neutron Source-a $1.4 billion center for advanced materials research, the University of Tennessee (UT- Battelle), and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).

Under management by UT- Battelle since 2000, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's office of Technology Transfer and Economic Development (TTED) is dedicated to making the most innovative equipment, the latest technology, and the expertise of the laboratory's staff available to outside organizations, according to Director Jan Haerer.

"Our focus is management of intellectual property to the lab's maximum benefit and the optimal commercialization potential of the technology. We create an entrepreneurial environment and use our intellectual property as a stimulus for local and national economic development," she added.

Technology companies considering a Tennessee location will also find a TTED relationship provides other benefits, said Haerer. "In licensing situations, we reduce royalty rates. And, if the company is a startup, we can point them to the resources of the Center for Entrepreneurial Growth (CEG)."

The CEG was established through the joint efforts of UT-Battelle and an area high-tech consortium-Technology 2020-to foster an entrepreneurial climate in the local area and improve the dissemination of ORNL technologies to small and medium sized businesses in the region. It provides seed capital, mentors, business plan assistance, access to technology, market research, and other support services-"Basically everything early stage companies need to make their business successful in the first years," Haerer said.

She said the lab also partners with small businesses to help them obtain funding through a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. This partnership provides access to research facilities, collaboration with scientists, and cooperative research and development agreements.

But, high-tech entrepreneurs and small businesses are not the only beneficiaries of the lab's technology resources.

"While we stress the research side, and the user facilities as well as our technical assistance capabilities, we also try to stress that we don't just work on high-tech problems," Haerer said. "We've worked with an established company manufacturing banjos and were able to make simple modifications to the tone ring to give them back the 'Tennessee sound.' We worked with a manufacturer of small brass planters and solved his problem with stress fractures. We've worked with the auto industry and contributed to improving the designs of brake pads and braking systems. It goes on and on. Many of these problems are not really high tech, but others are. In either situation, for a company to have our resources right in its back yard, well that's certainly something unique in the Southeast."

Apparently many businesses agree. Over 500 technology companies and 45,000 technical professionals currently call this area home. They are already taking advantage of the resources as well as an affordable high-bandwidth infrastructure, reliable and economical TVA power, and a location within a day's drive to 70 percent of the U.S. marketplace.

Meanwhile, organizations such as TTED, CROET, the Tennessee Technology Development Corporation, the East Tennessee Economic Development Agency (ETEDA), area chambers of commerce, and the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (ECD) work cooperatively to show site-seeking businesses the advantages of locating within an easy day's drive of a major national laboratory.

"We are very proactive, very 'out of the box,'" Haerer said.
"We've even funded specific programs in ETEDA, Tech 2020, and the Knoxville Area Chamber Partnership in addition to the ECD. Our objectives are stimulating the entrepreneurial climate, growing and retaining businesses, providing business assistance, and successfully recruiting businesses," said Haerer.

"When it comes to helping companies locate in Tennessee, ours are totally hand-in-glove relationships. That's the best way we can help show the world Tennessee means technology."