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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Low funding hampers UI research park

POST FALLS – Doug McQueen, the start-up guy behind the University of Idaho’s research park, has retired.

McQueen, 59, was hired as the research park’s first executive director in 1997. He oversaw the development phase of the park, including construction of its first building.

Aug. 31 was McQueen’s last official day on the job. His assistant, Theresa Cowles, will continue to oversee day-to-day affairs at the park, but UI has no immediate plans to hire a new executive director.

McQueen said he leaves the post with a bit of lament.

“We haven’t been able to grow as fast as we hoped,” he said this week. “We know where we want to go. It’s just that we haven’t had the means to get there with a tight university budget and competing needs.”

UI is recovering from financial problems related to a failed, four-building campus in downtown Boise, and long-term debt.

Research parks are similar to business parks – with a twist. They attract companies interested in working with university researchers, and seeking commercial applications for research breakthroughs. The Jacklin family, long-time UI supporters, donated land for the research park next to its Riverbend Commerce Park in Post Falls, with the hopes of encouraging high-quality job growth. The vision was a campus of classrooms, labs and commercial space.

Five private companies operate out of the park’s 30,000-square foot building. It also houses an office of the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Center for Advanced Microelectronics and Biomolecular Research, headed by Gary Maki.

Maki’s return to UI in 2002, after a decade at the University of New Mexico, was a coup for the research park. Maki, who has an international reputation in computer chip design, brought 14 researchers with him, including his wife, biochemist Wusi Maki. The center, known as CAMBR, brings in about $2 million in federal research grants annually.

But other aspects of the park have progressed haltingly. Private investors had hoped to start construction this spring on second building, which would leased to the research park, whose officials would manage it and recruit tenants. Plans are stalled until 50 percent of the space is pre-leased. McQueen said more UI programs in the local area would help attract companies that want ties with a research park.

“There are a lot of reasons that people want to be in Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene. But from a researcher’s point of view, the key attraction is the presence of other researchers,” said Larry Branen, a research scientist with CAMBR.

UI President Tim White is expected to name an associate university vice president for North Idaho in the next several weeks. The new VP will oversee all university programs in the region, including the research park.

“To take the next step will require a greater commitment from the university, the state and the community,” Branen said. “It’s been a time in the University of Idaho where things have slowed down. Until those things are resolved, there will be a bit of a lag.”