Centers of Economic Excellence
March 2009 Program Update
CoEE creates 2,000 jobs in South Carolina
According to the 2003-2008 CoEE Program Comprehensive Evaluation, a report released by the Washington Advisory Group (WAG), a prominent Washington, DC-based consulting firm, the S.C. Centers of Economic Excellence (CoEE) program is so successful that other states should be envious.
In just six years, the CoEE Program has already generated 2,000-plus jobs in South Carolina and is building the knowledge-based economy. Perhaps the best news is that the early job numbers are likely only the “tip of the iceberg.” New job creation and business location decisions can be expected to grow as the program continues and matures.
WAG reports: “The state and its senior research universities are to be applauded for nurturing the CoEE program and for deploying it as a powerful tool for the creation of high-wage jobs and improvement in the quality of life of South Carolina citizens.”
“It is gratifying to have a well-respected firm like the Washington Advisory Group provide this accountability to the legislators and the taxpayers of South Carolina,” says Paula Harper Bethea, Chair of the CoEE Review Board. “The success of the CoEE Program is a tribute to the combined efforts of our state government, private industry and our great research institutions.”
In the summer of 2008, WAG was retained to assess the effectiveness of the CoEE Program. The WAG team, which included a former president of The Ohio State University and the former director of Microsoft Research, performed in-depth analysis of program data and materials, visited campuses and research facilities, and interviewed program staff and stakeholders to produce its report.
Of the more than 2,000 jobs the CoEE Program has created in South Carolina, 895 are associated directly with CoEEs and were created by such companies as BMW, Timken and others; 40 are at the 11 spin-off companies that have been created from CoEE research; and 1,100 were created due to the $122 million in new research grants awarded to individual Centers.
The report concludes that the CoEE Program is successfully achieving the goals set forth by the South Carolina General Assembly when the program was created, and that funding for the program should be a high legislative priority.
“Since this program began, South Carolina has successfully built Centers of Economic Excellence in cutting-edge fields that diversify our state’s economy and position us competitively in the national and global economy. This is particularly important in today’s economic uncertainty,” says Bobby Harrell, South Carolina Speaker of the House and proponent of the program. “The CoEE program will have continued long-term positive impact on South Carolina’s economy.”
To view a full copy of 2003-2008 CoEE Program Comprehensive Evaluation, visit www.sccoee.org.
CoEE brings more than a quarter billion dollars to South Carolina's economy
According to the latest figures, CoEE Program has boosted the state’s economy by more than a quarter of a billion dollars ($263.7 million) in non-state investment or pledges to the program.
Prior to accessing state lottery funds appropriated for the CoEE Program, the state’s three research universities (Clemson, MUSC and USC) must raise dollar-for-dollar non-state matching funds. Both the state and non-state funds are used to establish research centers in knowledge-intensive areas such as biotechnology, nanotechnology and automotive engineering.
Through January 2009, $83.3 million in state funds had been disbursed to the research universities. For the state’s investment, an additional $221 million in non-state investment has been added to the state economy ($99 million from non-state sources + $122.2 million in competitive research awards won by CoEE-affiliated researchers = $221.2 million). An additional $42.5 million in non-state funds are pledged to be invested in the state economy within the next several years.
CoEE partner Health Sciences South Carolina seeks to eliminate preventable infections
Each year, the Centers for Disease Control estimates there are 1.7 million infections and 99,000 associated deaths in America's hospitals, a situation that costs the nation's healthcare system $6.2 billion each year. Health Sciences South Carolina (HSSC), an organization that has partnered with the CoEE Program on 11 health-related Centers of Economic Excellence, is vowing to eliminate preventable healthcare-associated infections from the state's hospitals.
HSSC, the South Carolina Hospital Association (SCHA), and the Premier healthcare alliance have announced the formation of the South Carolina Healthcare Quality Trust, a voluntary, statewide hospital and research university performance partnership. The collaborative's first project will use research to identify causes of and solutions to preventable infections and then share the results with all 65 of the state's acute care hospitals. The three partners will invest more than $1.7 million over three years in the effort.
Based on Premier data from 16 South Carolina hospitals representing 42 percent of the state's annual discharges, these efforts could save the state's hospitals as much as $40 million a year and reduce the length of stay of South Carolina patients by up to 24,000 days.
"We all know someone whose life has been altered, sometimes permanently, by a preventable infection," said HSSC President and CEO Jay Moskowitz. "Through the South Carolina Healthcare Quality Trust, we will be using our state's best researchers to determine the causes of specific infections. We will test solutions in our state's four largest health systems, which today treat about 30 percent of all patients. We will then share the best practices, products, and services that result with all South Carolina hospitals. We believe this approach has the potential to make our state's hospitals safer for patients, families and employees; avoid millions in costs; and make our state a national model for healthcare quality."
In addition to his position at HSSC, Moskowitz is a CoEE endowed chair for the Center of Economic Excellence in Healthcare Quality at USC. Clemson and MUSC are also partners in the Center.
Among the Trust's first tasks is the creation of a special information-sharing portal that will allow all South Carolina hospitals to research the causes of healthcare-associated infections, and to identify and promote existing and new processes for prevention. Hospitals will be able to track their improvement against state and national benchmarks via the Performance Improvement Portal, Premier's knowledge exchange community of more than 1,500 healthcare experts nationwide.
Mark your calendars: National Hydrogen Association Conference in Columbia
On March 30, more than 1,600 energy, automotive, technology, and hydrogen industry representatives will be in Columbia for the National Hydrogen Association’s 20th Anniversary Annual Conference. Companies such as BMW Group, Air Products, Chevron, Shell Hydrogen, General Motors, Toyota, Daimler Chrysler, Volkswagen, Linde, Praxair, Plug Power, and Westinghouse will attend.
Two CoEE endowed chairs will be spotlighted at the conference:
 Brian Benicewicz is an endowed chair in the CoEE for Polymer Nanocomposite Research at USC. His research focuses on
polymer membranes for hydrogen fuel cells, polymer nanocomposites, and hydrogen pumps.
 Kenneth Reifsnider is an endowed chair in the CoEE for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells at USC. His research focuses on fuel cell science and engineering—creating practical and marketable fuel cells and systems that can meet future energy needs and benefit society.
Wednesday, April 1, is "Public Day" at the conference. A ride-and-drive event will feature more than 10 fuel cell vehicles with the latest hydrogen and fuel cell automotive technology; there will also be a Formula Zero high performance go-kart race and many opportunities to learn about the future of hydrogen technology in South Carolina. The event is free and open to the public. For more information on the conference, visit www.hydrogenconference.com.
The CoEE Program has been a catalyst for the growth of the hydrogen industry in South Carolina. Three CoEEs are part of USC's Future Fuels Initiative, which was created to develop new fuel and energy choices that can lessen the world's need for carbon-based fuels.
The Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Economy CoEE conducts research to develop hydrogen storage materials and sensors for fuel cells.
The Solid Oxide Fuel Cells CoEE focuses on developing fuel cells that can be used in large, high-power systems such as in full-scale industrial and large-scale electricity generating stations.
The Renewable Fuel Cells for the Fuel Cell Economy CoEE is developing catalysts that allow alternative fuels to be produced from renewable sources.
"South Carolina's economic stimulus plan"
The presidents of the state's three major research universities, Harris Pastides of USC, Jim Barker of Clemson, and Ray Greenberg of MUSC, published the following op-ed in The State applauding the CoEE Program's success in growing the state's knowledge economy.
When the President-Elect unveiled the outline of his national economic stimulus plan last week, one critical component was “investing in the science, research, and technology that will lead to new medical breakthroughs, new discoveries, and entire new industries.”
Fortunately for South Carolina, our state leaders recognized the value of investing in research and innovation several years ago, and the state is already benefiting from their vision.
Click here to read the entire op-ed.
Who we are
The S.C. Centers of Economic Excellence Program was established by the South Carolina General Assembly in 2002, funded through South Carolina Education Lottery proceeds. The legislation authorizes the state's three public research institutions, Medical University of South Carolina, Clemson University, and the University of South Carolina, to use state funds to create Centers of Economic Excellence in research areas that will advance South Carolina's economy. Each Center of Economic Excellence is awarded from $2 million to $5 million in state funds, which must be matched on a dollar-for-dollar basis with non-state funds. The program also supports CoEE endowed chairs, world-renowned scientists who lead the Centers of Economic Excellence. By investing in talent and technology, the CoEE Program is designed to fuel the state's knowledge-based economy, resulting in high-paying jobs and an improved standard of living in South Carolina.
For more information on the CoEE Program, visit www.sccoee.org.
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