Driving Forces Behind the Edison Program

Companies of all sizes have benefited from the many programs offered by the Edison Technology Centers since the Ohio Department of Development's Thomas Edison Program was launched in 1984. Surveys have shown the Edison Centers contributing to significant increases in sales, profits and market share of many companies.

Now, as industry continues to face intense economic pressures at home and ever greater competitive challenges from abroad, the seven Edison Centers are especially well positioned to facilitate solutions to company needs.

As the leading component of the Edison Program, the Centers have helped link industry with academia and government in partnerships to enhance industrial competitiveness through technology development. In doing so, the Centers have carried out more than 1,000 projects to accelerate technology utilization by participating companies.

Each of the centers offers its own special capabilities in specific technologies. As companies increasingly are seeking answers to multi- disciplinary needs, the Centers have expanded their outreach through collaborative relationships with fellow Centers. As a result, participating companies now have an even broader resource network to tap into in improving their competitive positions.

Companies involved in Edison Technology Center programs can expect these benefits:

• Through their relationships with world-class universities and federal research facilities, the Centers offer participating companies state-of-the- art basic and applied research in technologies that can improve company productivity and product quality. Research is done on both a generic basis and made available to all Center members or on a proprietary basis for an individual company.
• Centers provide a range of other valuable technical services, including testing, technology analysis and assessment, training, hotlines, business and economic studies, information data base retrieval, pilot plant and microfactory assistance and computer modeling.
• Networking and informational needs are served through frequent seminars, forums and conferences offered by each Center.

The Edison Program has attracted worldwide attention in its efforts to strengthen economic competitiveness through technology development. In 1992, the Program was singled out by the Corporation for Enterprise Development as the most successful state-directed initiative linking industry with academia to advance commercially relevant research. The Corporation for Enterprise Development is a national economic development research and policy organization.

In effectively understanding and responding to company needs with productive solutions, the Edison Technology Centers are furthering the State's economic development goals by:

• Increasing the competitiveness and productivity of companies through technology innovation.
• Creating and retaining jobs.
• Helping diversify Ohio's economy through creation of new businesses and industries.
• Developing the highest level of technical competence in key industries.

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