Piedmont's New Technology Initiative Hires Leader

BT Catalyst,  May, 1999  

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The North Carolina Emerging Technology Alliance, which oversees Forsyth County's technology-related economic development initiatives, has named William M. Dean as its president.

The Alliance was formed by Forsyth County's business, community and academic leaders in 1998 to supervise the development of Piedmont Triad Research Park and other local technology projects.

Dean, who will report to the Alliance's board of directors, was previously director of Cummings Research Park in Huntsville, Ala. He filled his new post on May 3.

Under Dean's leadership, Cummings' number of workers grew from 14,000 to 21,000 and the square footage of its facilities increased from five million to seven million. In the past three years alone, Dean helped Cummings add 2,680 new jobs and $150 million in capital spending to Huntsville.

The park, which won the 1997 Outstanding Research Park Award from the Association of University-Related Research Parks, includes such flagship tenants as Boeing, Motorola, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon.

Prior to becoming a research park developer, Dean worked in banking and finance for 21 years. He was president and chief executive officer of Colonial Bank in Huntsville from 1988 to 1993.

"Bill's achievements at Cummings Research Park bode extremely well for Winston-Salem's continued success at technology business development," said Dr. Thomas K. Hearn, president of Wake Forest University and chairman of the Alliance. "He will help us put Piedmont Triad Research Park on the national map."

Begun four years ago in downtown Winston-Salem, Piedmont Triad Research Park now includes two buildings, with a third on the way. Piedmont Triad Community Research Center is filled with researchers from Wake Forest University and Winston-Salem State University, while Albert Hall is home to 16 companies employing several hundred people. Both buildings, which once housed operations of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., are filled to capacity.

The creation of the Alliance was recommended by a five-member team of experienced technology consultants from Utah and California who completed Forsyth County's Blueprint for Technology Development, a strategic plan commissioned by the Greater Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce in 1997 in order to help turn the community into a major center of technology-based businesses.

Local leaders have focused on technology development in order to keep Forsyth County in step with national economic trends. Across the country, employment in technology fields is rising steadily as manufacturing jobs continue to disappear. Experts predict that by 2010, only 10 percent of the U.S. population will hold manufacturing jobs.

COPYRIGHT 1999 North Carolina Biotechnology Center
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