John Warner is on a mission to make South Carolina a global leader in innovation, and he’s pushing a multifaceted initiative to supercharge the collaboration between researchers and the companies that can turn that research into useful products and technology.
The Greenville-based serial entrepreneur and founder of InnoVenture, a web platform that seeks to connect entrepreneurs with technology and capital, is working with academics, businesses and elected leaders to develop and fund an innovation-collaboration ecosystem in the Palmetto State.
NSF Innovation engines
Warner explains that the first step in this effort involves taking advantage of a new initiative through the National Science Foundation called the Regional Innovation Engines program.
Through Communities of Innovation, a nonprofit corporation dedicated to fostering innovation in the state, Warner and a group of likeminded business leaders are working on an initial grant proposal for the NSF program to be submitted this September.
This proposal, called InnoMobility Engine, seeks to develop ”an innovation ecosystem of diverse partners to develop the world’s most productive, reliable, resilient, environmentally sustainable and equitable industrial electric and autonomous mobility system in S.C.”
If the InnoMobility Engine proposal is approved, it would receive $1 million in NSF funding over two years to develop a strategic plan. If that plan is approved, up to $160 million in funding over 10 years would help finance the plan’s implementation.
“A good bit of what we’re doing is connecting the parts that already exist,” Warner says.
He adds that with cutting-edge research being done at institutions like Clemson University’s International Center for Automotive Research and with corporate partners like BMW, Michelin, Volvo and Oshkosh Defense, among others already firmly established in the state, the ingredients are mostly in place to build such a collaborative ecosystem.
Besides fostering closer relationships between researchers and companies, the InnoMobility Engine concept is part of a broader initiative to create high-value jobs across the state that will help South Carolina retain its talent and intellectual capital.
“The real North Star for me in this is students with advanced degrees finding jobs in South Carolina,” Warner says.
Parallel legislation
Giving South Carolina students opportunities for high-paying, rewarding jobs is a top priority for state Rep. Sylleste Davis, R-Moncks Corner.
With two children of her own and a background in technology, Davis is working closely with Warner to develop legislation that will create a statewide framework to encourage development of the collaborative ecosystem that Warner and others are working so hard to promote.
Patterned after the South Carolina Research Centers of Economic Excellence Act that created 76 endowed research chairs in 51 research centers across the state, Davis’ Great Jobs Through Innovation Excellence in South Carolina Act would seek to invest $600 million in state and non-state funding to foster innovation collaboration.
Although in the early stages of development, the legislation aims to create a Smart Job Commission to oversee the program and will designate funding to help implement it, Davis says.
“It’s innovation, collaboration and workforce development,” she says. “In South Carolina, if we can label ourselves as a state of innovation, then we can attract companies that prioritize innovation.”
Part of achieving that goal will be building stronger connections between k-12 STEM education, research institutions and the state’s innovative companies.
Warner and Davis are both optimistic their efforts will pay dividends, in part because most of the critical pieces are already in place.
“It’s important to say what we’re [already] doing is not broken,” Warner says. “We’re trying to ratchet the success up.”
Great Jobs initiative forums
A series of forums to discuss the Great Jobs initiative scheduled across the state for later this month have been postponed. They will be rescheduled at a later time.
