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Foresight: Hunt's vision focused on infotech, biotech
Former Gov. Jim Hunt remains active in pitching North Carolina’s resources and research to international life-sciences audiences.
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Published: May 18, 2008
A combination of curiosity, instinct and economic reality persuaded former Gov. Jim Hunt nearly 30 years ago that biotechnology would be pivotal to North Carolina's future.
Even though the four-term governor has been out of office since 2001, he remains active in pitching North Carolina's resources and research to national and international life-sciences audiences.
Part of those efforts will include a speech Monday during Biotech 2008, a two-day conference being held at the Benton Convention Center. The biotech conference, in its 17th year, is the largest on the East Coast.
Hunt last week took time to give his impressions of the state of biotech in the Triad and North Carolina.
Q. You have been called the "father of biotechnology in North Carolina." What does that honor
mean to you, and what did you see so many years ago that led you to believe in biotechnology's promise as an industry and job creator?
A. I am very honored to carry this name.
During the 1980s, I saw the need for the North Carolina economy to change. The textile, furniture and tobacco industries were declining, and North Carolina needed to find something new.
Through my worldwide travels, I discovered a new growth in the infotech and biotech fields, and began recruiting those types of companies to locate within our state.
Q. How is North Carolina's biotechnology industry doing compared to your initial expectations?
A. The industry has come a long way since the early days, but it is exactly what I had hoped for. We now have 460 biotech companies in North Carolina employing 56,000 people, with a payroll for those employees of more than $3.5 billion. Forty-five of these companies are home-grown, based on technology researched and development here, with more and more being developed each day.
Q. How is the N.C. Biotechnology Center doing compared to your initial expectations?
A. The center was created in 1984 to aid in the growth of the industry. At the time, no other place had a statewide center like ours. With its emphasis on funding and education, it has contributed greatly to North Carolina's biotechnology industry.
Q. How is North Carolina doing compared with its main competitors, both domestic and international?
A. North Carolina is ranked No. 3 for the number of biotechnology companies in America, No. 1 being California and No. 2 being Massachusetts.
We have a long ways to go to catch up to No. 1 and No. 2, but with North Carolina's strong emphasis on science in education, it has created a better work force for the biotechnology companies located here to choose from.
North Carolina has trained more than 5,000 teachers specifically in life sciences to aid teaching the younger generation the importance of science and its great potential as a career choice. Thirty out of the 57 community colleges located in North Carolina have biotechnology programs.
We have award-winning teachers in North Carolina, including Nobel Prize-winning Dr. Oliver Smithies, (a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at UNC Chapel Hill's School of Medicine). North Carolina Centennial Campus, with its biotechnology-focused programs, is the largest hands-on campus in the world.
Q. Where do you see Piedmont Triad Research Park and the Triad's biotech community fitting into the grand strategy for the state? What will it take for the park to become a preferred research center for biotech groups who can go anywhere?
A. The great technologies and research coming out of the Triad universities will play a big role. The Triad is a terrific example of how education and development play well together, specifically with Wake Forest, UNC Greensboro and N.C. A&T. They have tremendous synergy sharing research, personnel and working together.
Q. Dr. Anthony Atala has described the recent awarding of a federal regenerative-tissue project to his Institute of Regenerative Medicine and Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center as being part of a new Manhattan Project.
How much promise do you see in Atala's research, and can the research park become a major regenerative-research hub?
A. I am very excited about the research and development from Dr. Atala. He is the greatest researcher in his field in the world and is located right in North Carolina. His research will be a key driver for Piedmont Triad Research Park's success.
Q. Where do you project biotech to be in 20 years in North Carolina?
A. I see biotechnology being the largest industry for the state, playing a big role in medicines, forestry, foods, fuels (renewable energy), etc.
You will find this research and development happening all over the state. You will also find work being done on the coast with marine biotech developments.
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