This award is to Montana State University to support the activity described below for 36 months. The proposal was submitted in response to the Partnerships for Innovation Program Solicitation (NSF 02060). The partners include Montana State University (Lead Institution), MSU Techlink Center, Center for Entrepreneurship for the New West, Montana Office for Economic Opportunity, Technology Venture Center. The program includes: (1) formation of a sustainable, long-term innovation partnership that will provide a major engine for the emerging technology sector in Montana, (2) formation of an enhanced infrastructure for creating new technology companies in the state, (3) recruitment of women and Native Americans for entrepreneurship training and new technology-business opportunities, (4) establishment of at least a dozen new technology companies in Montana State University's Advanced Technology Park and then elsewhere in Montana, and (5) development of a new model for technology-business creation in rural states.
Montana currently ranks 50th in the United States in annual pay and 48th in the percentage of households at the poverty level. This program will increase the number of new sources of higher-paying jobs, mobilize the underrepresented populations in the state, and reduce the "brain drain" to other regions.
