By-Passing the Jury Through Mediation or Arbitration - Venable LLP

“We have to get companies to think
of this region – that’s the main goal,”
says Foster. “Virginia will win some
and Maryland will win some. And I
know if a company locates in northern
Virginia, 45 percent of people [employees]
will live in Maryland, and vice
versa.”
INDIVIDUAL STRENGTH
Still, after so many years of going it
alone in every other industry sector,
one has to question the rationale for
shifting tack and joining forces in nanotechnology.
Industry experts and economic
development officials say there
are two reasons: the opportunity provided
by an embarrassment of shared
federal resources and the disadvantages
of being a small, undercapitalized
player in an explosive new field.
One of the key ingredients of this
partnership is it’s a merger of near
equals (with D.C. thrown in for good
measure). An initiative in biotechnology
or information technology wouldn’t
be attractive to the dominant state due
to its perception of the other state as a
moocher of hard-won capabilities.
Maryland’s Foster is direct: “I think we
have a lock on biotech – we don’t necessarily
need to do a regional initiative
in that.”
Nanotechnology-focused Small
Times magazine and Lux Research, a
leading nanotech research and advisory
firm, both rank Maryland and Virginia
in their top 15 of nanotechnology
leader states (neither ranks D.C.). Evaluating
a state’s strengths in research,
industry, venture capital, innovation,
workforce, and costs, Small Times’
2005 ranking placed Maryland 8th and
Virginia 15th, an improvement from
11th and 18th the year before
(although Maryland’s roller coaster ride
had them at 6th two years ago). Lux,
using 16 criteria, ranks Virginia (4th)
ahead of Maryland (tied for 7th with
Connecticut).
Most of Maryland and Virginia’s
advanced ranking comes from the
benevolence of the federal government,
which has long recognized the need to
fund advances in nanotech in the initial
absence of nanotech-derived commercial
products. Of the $4.6 billion spent
by governments worldwide on nanotechnology,
the U.S. accounts for $1.6
billion (Japan’s next with $1 billion).
“The federal government is the
number one resource,” says Foster. “We
have major federal labs in Maryland,
D.C. and Virginia. There aren’t very
many resources that California shares
with Oregon or Nevada.” The strongest
asset? The National Institute of Standards
and Technology’s new $235 million
state-of-the-art nanometrology lab.
The Gaithersburg lab is developing
measurements, standards, and data crucial
to private industry’s development
of products for the nanotech market.
Combined with leading defense
contractors that crowd around the Pentagon,
and world-class research institutions
like Johns Hopkins University,
University of Maryland, University of
Virginia, and Virginia Tech, the region
has a lot going for it. In fact, Foster says
Maryland’s rankings would be even
better if state officials hadn’t been so
uncharacteristically shy about promoting
state capabilities. “We were doing a
lot of stuff in stealth mode,” he says.
“For example, the [Jeong H.] Kim
building [at the University of Maryland,
College Park] – it’s been in the
works for two years but we didn’t toot
our horn because it wasn’t completely
done yet.” The Kim building’s Center
for Integrated Nano Science and Engineering
will be dedicated to nanotech
research.
Still, Virginia and especially Maryland
have had trouble converting
world-class research and a uber-qualified
workforce into thriving private
concerns. Lux gives a particularly harsh
assessment: despite its solid ranking,
the firm labels Maryland a “nano-laggard”
(Virginia earned a “nano-leader”
moniker). Lux Senior Analyst David
Lackner characterizes Maryland as
weak in its entrepreneurial activity,
ability to access venture funding, and
its skill in retaining startups. “Maryland
lacks an ecology of thriving entrepreneurial
infrastructure,” he says.
JOINED STRENGTH
The CNI won’t change any of these
weaknesses overnight, although shared
best practices can’t hurt. What the CNI
can do is provide for more collaboration
– and less redundancy – and an
increased stature that can help the
region rival the nanotechnology
hotbeds of California and Massachusetts
(#1 and #2 in both Small Times’
and Lux’s rankings).
“If you aggregate Virginia, Maryland
and D.C., we’re still less than 14
million people,” says Foster. “We’re
better off banding together.” Even if no
synergy results, a larger area with a
common identity and a joined marketing
budget can’t help but be a bigger
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www.smartceo.com August 2005 Baltimore SmartCEO 31