Centers of Economic Excellence program creates 3,200 jobs, boosts economy

South Carolina’s Centers of Economic Excellence program has brought in nonstate investments of more than $250 million and has led to the creation of approximately 3,200 jobs, according to the organization’s fiscal 2009 annual report, released Wednesday morning.

The program was enacted by the General Assembly in 2002. The state has since invested $30 million a year between 2003 and 2008, for a total $180 million, into the program from state lottery money. In 2009 and 2010, the Legislature cut the funding as it grappled with budget woes as a result of the economic downturn.

The CoEE did use $3.6 million in interest to fund additional Centers of Economic Excellence. There now are 45 centers at the state’s three research universities — Clemson University, the Medical University of South Carolina and the University of South Carolina.

The centers established are in emerging fields such as automotive engineering, nanotechnology, biomedicine, cancer research, energy and environmental science.

The program has received nonstate matching pledges of $145 million and an additional $120 million in extramural research grants.

The report said that the centers have resulted in 1,224 direct jobs to date and a spin-off of an additional 2,000 jobs as a result of the extramural grants.

Other program accomplishments include:

Recruitment of 22 of the world’s leading scientists and engineers to South Carolina as CoEE endowed chairs. These men and women have come from renowned institutions such as MIT and NASA and countries such as Germany and England.

Awards of 13 U.S. and international patents. Increasingly, CoEE researchers are converting scientific discoveries into marketable products and services.
Founding of 11 new startup companies in South Carolina based on CoEE research. These companies are creating new jobs in several areas of the state.

The state’s research universities reported several developments in fiscal 2009 that came as a result of the CoEE program:

At MUSC:
In March, Hollings Cancer Center was designated a National Cancer Institute Cancer Center — one of 64 centers in the country. A study conducted by the MUSC Center for Health Economics and Policy Studies predicts the designation will add $31 million to $38 million to the Charleston area’s economy during the next five years.

The endowed chairs were instrumental in helping MUSC win two $20 million grants, one from the National Science Foundation and one from the National Institutes of Health.

The program has supported the development of a statewide network of health care simulation centers that have trained 14,000 physicians, nurses, emergency medical technicians and students since 2008.

MUSC recruited three new CoEE endowed chairs: Dr. Melanie Thomas, Gastrointestinal Cancer Diagnostics CoEE; Dr. Paul Morgan, Brain Imaging CoEE; and Dr. Jihad Obeid, Clinical Effectiveness and Patient Safety CoEE.
At USC:

Endowed Chair Dr. Kenneth Reifsnider and his team were awarded USC’s single largest federal grant ever, a $12.5 million U.S. Department of Energy award for advanced energy research.

Global medical giant Smith & Nephew announced a $5 million investment in USC’s Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Sciences CoEE for development of tissue-engineered materials and implantable devices.

The Healthcare Quality CoEE has partnered with IBM and Siemens to develop information technology infrastructure across South Carolina. This infrastructure is designed to improve health care, increase research, enhance access to clinical trials and, ultimately, reduce medical costs.

During fiscal 2009, USC recruited four new CoEE endowed chairs: Dr. Martin Morad, Regenerative Medicine CoEE; Dr. Jay Moskowitz, Healthcare Quality CoEE; Dr. Brian Benicewicz, Polymer Nanocomposites CoEE; and Dr. Rita Snyder, Clinical Effectiveness and Patient Safety CoEE.
At Clemson:

American Titanium Works announced that it would invest hundreds of millions of dollars in the Upstate to locate facilities near Clemson’s four CoEE endowed chairs in automotive engineering. The company is building a world-class titanium mini mill in Laurens County and will invest an estimated $422 million, creating 320 new jobs.

Scientists at the Optical Materials CoEE developed a practical optical fiber that could have a profound impact on efficiency in electronic devices worldwide.

Also at the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research, endowed chairs have been involved in creation of an educational concept called Deep Orange. The project will allow the automotive research center’s graduate students to create a vehicle from scratch over the course of two years.
During fiscal 2009, Clemson recruited one new CoEE endowed chair: Dr. Paul Venhovens, Automotive Systems Integration CoEE.