URI Economic Impact Report - Autumn 2020

FROM INNOVATION TO OPPORTUNITY: THE STATEWIDE IMPACT OF research AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND

Autumn 2020

ECONOMIC IMPACT REPORT 2020 1

At URI, we discover, create, and innovate to understand, protect, and improve our community and our world. Across our campus, you will find scholars and researchers examining the entire range of human knowledge and experience. Much of this work, such as studying the effects of microplastics pollution, producing leading documentary films, expanding renewable energy, developing groundbreaking approaches to explosives detection, or improving health care and supply chains, will have substantial impacts on our society and economy. This fervor for pushing boundaries, cultivating diverse scholarship, and inspiring the next generation of leaders is fundamental to the URI experience. It defines us as a global research university. We honor and value the public trust placed in us by the citizens of Rhode Island. We are committed to serving the people of our state and nation with perseverance and devotion.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The University of Rhode Island serves as the state’s major public research university, and its wide-ranging scientific research and economic development programs contribute substantially to the economic health of our community. This economic impact assessment reviews these contributions by the University in service to the state of Rhode Island. The economic impact on the state of Rhode Island of these URI programs amounted to $308.5 million in FY19, supporting 1,182 Rhode Island jobs. The activities described in this report included contributions of $166,060,000 by scientific research; $444,600 by technology transfer and commercialization; and $142,006,950 by entrepreneurship and innovation activities. This represents a 61 percent increase over 2012, which is the last time the University assessed its similar impact. For every dollar of state appropriation, the University’s Division of Research and Economic Development returns $1.25, or 25 percent, in external research awards and $3.50, or a 250 percent return, in terms of the economic impact to the state and its constituents.

URI’S RESEARCH AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT MISSION To enable, support and safeguard URI’s mission as the state’s Land- and Sea- Grant research institution. To accelerate research that will lead to improved understanding and response to critically important human and environmental health concerns. To catalyze novel research, scholarly and creative pursuits across the University and across all domains of intellectual curiosity.

David M. Dooley President

Professor of Biomedical & Pharmaceutical Sciences Angela Slitt

URI RESEARCH IMPACTING TECHNOLOGY AND HEALTHCARE IN RHODE ISLAND URI research is advancing the testing for COVID-19. Professor of Biomedical & Pharmaceutical Sciences Angela Slitt has partnered with Thermo Scientific, to adapt the company’s 96-well plate assay into a COVID-19 diagnostic testing mechanism which would ideally be capable of testing nearly 2000 samples in six hours. Slitt’s objective is to get the test approved for use under the FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization in the fall of 2020. Slitt believes the team’s methods have even shown potential to be more accurate than the current PCR test being used.

We are delighted to share our Research and Economic Development Impact Report, which reflects the growth of our University programs for the betterment of our community, over nearly the past two decades. Since our last reports in 2002 and 2012, the University’s research and economic activities have expanded immensely, and we have reached our long-time goal of becoming a $100 million research institution. During the past four years, our grant and contract expenditures have increased by 20 percent. And, since 2012, we have brought the Rhode Island Small Business Development Center under our purview to aid local startups and sustain established small businesses statewide. We are also home to the Polaris Manufacturing Extension Partnership, which has provided an extremely effective service to support Rhode Island manufacturers.

URI R&ED IMPACT

$350,000,000 $300,000,000 $250,000,000 $200,000,000 $150,000,000 $100,000,000 $50,000,000 $0

$308,511,550

$190,692,835

Peter J. Snyder, Ph.D Vice President for Research and Economic Development

$96,709,251

To support innovative strategic partnerships on a global scale.

Figure 1. Comparative Annual R&ED Impact Between FY2002 and FY2019

ECONOMIC IMPACT REPORT 2020 3

2 The University of Rhode Island

ECONOMIC IMPACT OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH Can sequencing a person’s genome help predict their potential for developing cancer or being resistant to drug therapy? What is causing the decline in the honeybee population? How do you improve humanitarian aid to regions hit by a natural disaster? What are the impacts of climate change on the food web? These are merely four of the thousands of the groundbreaking scientific research projects under way at The University of Rhode Island. The value of these projects to human health and safety is obvious. Less obvious, but equally valuable, is the contribution these projects make to the state’s economy. URI’s big ideas also generate big money for the Ocean State.

activities at the University since 2012, when the last economic impact report of this type was published. This report documents how research by URI faculty, students, and staff contribute to Rhode Island’s overall prosperity. Federal research awards at URI are ascendant, following some ups and downs in previous years. The University’s research portfolio increased to a record $100.9 million in research funding in Fiscal Year (FY)2019, which included funding from an array of federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Department of Defense (DOD), the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). From 2012 to 2019, URI faculty were awarded 3,434 grants and received $679 million in grant revenue.

AMONG THE UNIVERSITY’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN FY19:

‰ 255 external grant awards and a record high $100.9 million in total research revenue.

‰ An increase in grant and contract expenditures to $89.8 million, with 20 percent growth over the trailing four years.

This report examines research and economic development

‰ 42 invention disclosures, 10 U.S. patents, and 42 commercialization agreements. Six companies have been formed by URI faculty since 2010. ‰ Entrepreneurship programs that served 541 small business clients and 84 manufacturing clients, totaling $38.5 million in new sales since 2012. ‰ One in three jobs created or supported by URI is related to the University’s research activities. In FY19, the operational and capital expenditures for sponsored research at URI supported 1,182 jobs (National Center for Education Statistics, 2020). ‰ Three-year grants and contract revenue growth of 16 percent that placed URI first among New England land-grant universities (FY2016-FY2019).

PROPOSALS AND NEW AWARDS FY12 AND FY19

Proposals Submitted

Awards

Success Rate (NewAwards)

Year

Number Dollar amt Number Dollar amt

Number

Avg. award

FY 2012

654

$300.0 M

314

$98.3 M

48%

$207 K

FY 2019

620

$283.0 M

255

$100.9 M

41%

$214 K

‰ A return on grants and contracts by state appropriations placed URI third among New England land-grant universities.

Change

(34)

($17.0) M

(59)

$2.6 M

(7%)

$7 K

‰ Grants and contract dollars per instructional/research staff that placed URI third among New England land-grant universities.

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4 The University of Rhode Island

URI RESEARCH IMPACTING THE ENVIRONMENT IN RHODE ISLAND URI researchers examine important issues such as how plant and animal populations adapt to warmer seasonal patterns in the Bay: • Engineering faculty and staff are creating innovative sensors that can detect potentially harmful nutrients at limits lower than what’s now commercially possible. • Oceanographers across the state are developing novel models that will predict changes in coastal environments similar to a weather forecast. Such work aims to better inform state leaders to make policy decisions on how to maintain a healthy Narragansett Bay for all users. • The Rhode Island Bay Observatory, for example, is a custom array of marine instruments that monitors food web dynamics from the bay floor to the catch in a fishing vessel. • The observatory serves as a testbed for new marine sensors, all collecting data that is publicly accessible through the Rhode Island Data Discovery Center.

Major awards in the past year included • $4 million from the NSF as part of a five-year project to study the health of Narragansett Bay, which is vital to tourism, fisheries, and recreation. • $4.4 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as part of a five-year effort to increase the state’s capacity to perform biomedical research. • $1.5 million from the NIH as part of a five-year investigation of drinking water contamination.

AWARD DOLLARS FROM SELECTED SOURCES, FY12 AND FY19

The economic benefits of URI’s research resonate throughout the state. In 2019, expenditure of research dollars received by URI totaled $87.4 million. Using an industry-accepted multiplier calculation developed at the University of California, these expenditures had a total economic impact of $166 million on the Rhode Island economy (Kantor & Whalley, 2014).

Rhode Island NSF EPSCoR’s current $19 million grant awarded in 2017, the Rhode Island Consortium for Coastal Ecology Assessment, Innovation and Modeling, combined with $3.8 million in matching funds from the Rhode Island Science and Technology Advisory Council, has for the past three years provided significant research funding, inter-disciplinary collaboration opportunities, and professional development training for students and faculty at the University of Rhode Island and seven other institutions of higher education across the state. Having the latest tools is key to effective research on Narragansett Bay’s changing ecosystems, and the Consortium is dedicating millions of dollars to bringing this needed equipment into facilities across the state.

Granting Agency

2012

2019

Percent change

National Science Foundation

$16.1 M $29.6 M $9.3 M $5.1 M $7.1 M $6.6 M $7.8 M $0.8 M

$19.4 M $18.5 M $10.9 M $6.1 M $8.0 M $6.0 M $5.1 M $3.6 M

21

US Dept Health & Human Services

(38)

US Aid for Intl Development

17 20 13 (9)

US Dept Agriculture

US Dept Defense

US Dept Commerce

State of RI

(35) 350

Private For-Profit

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6 The University of Rhode Island

URI’S PLASTICS INITIATIVE: FROM LAND TO SEA From food wrappings and product packaging, to disposable bottles, straws, grocery bags, and PPEs, our lives are overtaken by a tide of plastics. Eight million metric tons of plastic are dumped in oceans annually, affecting at least 700 marine and wildlife species. URI is championing a land-to-sea plastics research initiative that aligns URI’s resources and research strengths from sciences to humanities to inform society, guide public policy, and reduce plastic pollutants. Its position as a land and sea grant institution—complemented by Rhode Island’s 400 miles of coastline and coastal economies—makes URI a major contributor to tackling this endeavor. Research in the sciences and social sciences together can inform decisions culturally, economically, technologically, and politically. “Much of the world is dependent on plastics,” said Kathleen Shannon, URI’s assistant to the vice president for research for strategic initiatives. “Because policy has been pro-plastic, it has moved rapidly as a global commodity. Our teams study micro/ nanoplastics on land, in water, and in the human body to understand, inform, and engage stakeholders to support data-driven decisions and investments.” URI’s research team—alongside non profit, corporate, and government partners— strives to inform policymakers and the public. While we understand plastic pollution is present in all studied ecosystems, we know little of long-term health, societal, and environmental impacts. URI seeks to fill this gap, focusing on micro- and nanoplastics. “Knowledge brings power, which can cultivate behavior change,” said Shannon. “Rhode Island is a great site to take new knowledge and translate it into meaningful actions to impact our populations. We are looking at this issue from sink to sea. And, our data points can go from local to global quickly, because of our small, collaborative ocean state.”

The RI-INBRE program has brought more than $81 million to the state.

URI RESEARCH IMPACTING BIOMEDICAL JOBS IN RHODE ISLAND

Research dollars contribute to the economy through the support of a scientific research workforce and through the purchase of goods and services. One of the biggest sources of such funding in recent years at URI has been a large biomedical capacity-building grant from NIH. During the past 20 years, the RI-INBRE program has brought more than $81 million to the state. The program is a statewide network designed to build the biomedical research capacity of Rhode Island institutions by supporting and developing talented individuals committed to research careers in Rhode Island. RI-INBRE provides access to instrumentation and bioinformatics core facilities for conducting cutting-edge research. The research themes of the program include oncology, environmental health sciences, and neuroscience. The state boasts a high concentration of jobs in the pharmaceuticals industry and in the medical device industry, according to a study by a biotechnology trade organization (Biotechnology Innovation Organization, 2018). Additionally, in 2017, Rhode Island ranked fourth in the nation per-capita for NIH funding, at $161 per person. In 2014-2017, the state ranked ninth in NIH funding growth, with a 29.4 percent increase, according to the report.

URI RESEARCH IMPACTING THE ENVIRONMENT, ECONOMY, AND HEALTH IN RHODE ISLAND

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URI RESEARCH IMPACTING SECURITY IN RHODE ISLAND

BOMB DETECTION

GREGORY’S RESEARCH SEEKS A WAY TO DETECT THE EXPLOSIVES’ VAPORS BEFORE THE BOMB DETONATES.

“The Digital Dog Nose” created by Otto Gregory, chemical engineering professor at URI, could be placed at subway stations, train stations, and airports to detect bombs. Gregory and his research students created a sensor to detect explosives commonly used by terrorists. One of the explosives is

ALL SOURCES OF GRANT REVENUE—STATE FISCAL YEAR JULY 1- JUNE 30 GRANT FUNDING ACTIVITY

Eager faculty, supported by innovative training and initiatives offered by the Division of Research and Economic Development and other URI offices, submitted 620 proposals with a 41 percent award rate. The University’s investment, complemented by a state appropriation of $70.1 million, paid off: Every state dollar returned $1.25 in direct revenue.

FY2012 FY2013-FY2018 (Avg.)

FY2019

triacetone triperoxide, (TATP). Terrorists use TATP because it is easy to make with chemicals that can be bought at pharmacies and hardware stores, attracting little attention from authorities. Even small amounts can cause large explosions. Gregory’s research seeks a way to detect the explosives’ vapors before the bomb detonates, launching quick evacuations and saving lives.

Funding source

Dollar amt

Dollar amt

Pct change Dollar amt

Pct change

Gregory and his team tested their prototype at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., and at Rapiscan Systems, one of the top detection system manufacturers in the world. The prototype detects explosives as low as one molecule of an explosive in a billion molecules of air. “The lower we can go,” chemical engineering graduate student Andrew Rossi says, “the less likelihood terrorists are going to get by security.” The next step is to make the prototype as small as a cellphone. Gregory’s work is funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. “I’m very excited about the future of the product,” he said. “We’re trying to make life safer for people throughout the world.”

Res. & Econ. Dev.

$95.0 M $78.8 M

(18)

$94.2 M

20

URI Res. Foundation

$2.3 M $2.8 M

22

$3.8 M

36

URI Foundation & Alumni Engagement VP for R&ED

$0.3 M $0.4 M

33

$1.3 M

225

$0.5 M $0.7 M

40

$1.5 M

114

Faculty Dev.

$0.1 M $0.1 M

-

$0.1 M

-

Revenue

$98.2 M $82.8 M $100.3 M $79.6 M

(16)

$100.9 M

22

Grant Expenditures

(21)

$89.8 M

13

Revenue/Expense

1

1

6

1

8

Otto Gregory, URI chemical engineering professor, and engineering student Alyssa Kelly with the prototype.

State Appropriation

$58.5 M $70.1 M

20

$81.0 M

16

Revenue/State $

2

1

(30)

1

6

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COMPUTER EDUCATION IN RHODE ISLAND

SOCIAL DISCOURSE IN RHODE ISLAND

ENERGY SUSTAINABILITY IN RHODE ISLAND

During the summer of 2019, URI Computer Science Professor Victor Fay- Wolfe led 60 middle and high school teachers from around the state of Rhode Island in a week of computer science training at the University. The program, in which high school students take URI courses to earn university credit while meeting high school requirements, has grown robustly in large part due to the demand for computer science classes. The work Fay-Wolfe has done highlights Rhode Island as a national leader in computer science education. • More than 1,000 Rhode Island high school students obtained college computer science concurrent enrollment credit in the past academic year, the highest percentage in the country. • 100 percent of traditional school districts offer computer science

URI and local towns will generate economic benefits while boosting the amount of renewable energy flowing into the state’s electric grid. The collaboration is one of the largest solar power initiatives in New England and will cover 267 acres in West Kingston, South Kingstown, and West Greenwich. • The installations are expected to deliver 48,000 megawatt hours of energy to the grid annually. • Enough to power 750 homes, and offset the fossil fuel consumption of 1,500 cars. • 65 percent of URI’s energy needs are now generated by solar power. • The power generated will help the state meet its goal of having 100 percent of the energy consumed by state government supplied through renewable sources by the year 2025.

Kendall Moore, University of Rhode Island journalism professor, and documentary filmmaker tackles difficult social and political issues including racism, health, gender, and the environment in her films. Moore’s investigative documentary film class works hard on several projects. The film topics include emerging contaminants in Rhode Island’s Narraganset Bay; the lack of diversity in STEM fields; differing views on climate change; an investigation into noise pollution in the Westerly area; and different life experiences on the autism spectrum. Moore’s documentary class produced several documentary shorts that aired on PBS. The stories examined an algal bloom that shut down part of Narragansett Bay, the recent Gypsy Moth infestation, and lead paint contamination. The lead paint film, Jalen and Joanna: A Lead Paint Story, was selected for the first Rhode Island Black Film Festival, which opened in 2018. “If my films can be helpful to people and causes that can benefit from my skills as a journalist and filmmaker, I feel like I have managed to accomplish something,” said Moore,

URI IMPACTING...

opportunities — the highest percentage in the country.

• 78 percent of Rhode Island public schools offer at least one Advanced Placement computer science course.

URI’s Narragansett Bay Campus at Sunrise , by Scott Berstein ‘00

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ARTS IN RHODE ISLAND

URI’s Fine Arts Center is undergoing a much-needed makeover. The Rhode Island legislature approved $1 million for renovations in 2017 and an additional $11 million in 2018. Apart from the approximately 8,500 URI students registered for music, art, and theater courses, more than 50,000 people annually attend performances, exhibits, and events. The building boasts some of the largest theaters, concert highest percentage of arts-related jobs in the country, nearly 20,000. The arts contributed $1.8 million of economic activity in 2015 alone. An investment in our flagship university’s arts programs continues to be an investment in both the local and state economies— contributing to the University community and far beyond. halls, and set-shops in the region. Rhode Island possesses the third-

URI IMPACTING...

CULTURE IN RHODE ISLAND

COMMUNITY IN RHODE ISLAND

The University of Rhode Island’s Gender and Sexuality Center officially opened its doors in 2015. It is the first free-standing center on a U.S. college campus dedicated to serving the needs of the LGBTQ community. Director Annie Russell described the center as a “student-led and student-driven” flagship institution for LGBTQ supports and services people within URI and the broader Rhode Island community. Today, through programs such as bias incident tracking, weekly Trans and Non- Binary Support Group meetings, Queer Prom, Lavender Graduation, the Big Gay Picnic, and this year’s 21st Annual LGBT Symposium, the Center works to provide direct community support and spread awareness about LGBTQ issues throughout surrounding communities. Additionally, resources such as the Center’s Safe Zone training curriculum have been shared with 19 other higher education institutions, facilitating connection among LGBTQ support initiatives across the country. Beyond offering a venue for students and community to gather, Russell said the creation of the Center as something that “speaks to how much you value people’s lives.”

The University launched a campaign aimed at training rural Rhode Islanders about opioids and substance abuse. Using a $1million grant from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, URI has been teaching The Community First Responder Program to members of the Ocean State community to recognize the signs of overdose and how to respond – such as administering naloxone and performing CPR. The program also includes education to reduce the stigma associated with substance use disorder. The program, which provides free online Narcan training to the local community, has proven a success. More than 1,200 people have completed the online program, and almost 1,000 doses of naloxone nasal spray and over 5,000 fentanyl test strips have been distributed. Led by Anita Jacobson, URI clinical associate professor of pharmacy, the program targets rural areas of Rhode Island, especially where it takes longer to get to a hospital.

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14 The University of Rhode Island

Jobs created with research dollars are not to limited science positions. They include administrators and managers as well as jobs with suppliers, equipment vendors, contractors, and the laborers who construct and renovate laboratory space – not to mention the jobs created in the community by the scientific community’s household and disposable incomes. One in three jobs created or supported by URI is related to the University’s research activities. In FY19, the operational and capital expenditures for sponsored research at URI supported 1,182 jobs (National Center for Education Statistics, 2020).

FACULTY PRODUCTIVITY AND INFLUENCE

PEER RESEARCH IMPACT BENCHMARKS

PEER RESEARCH IMPACT BENCHMARKS | URI PEER SCHOOL ECONOMIC IMPACT DATA

URI faculty are leaders in their disciplines. Many are world- renowned and publish their work in highly influential academic journals. The Graduate School of Oceanography is home to experts whose hurricane models are used by the U.S. National Hurricane Center and the Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center. Biomedical researchers in the College of the Environment and Life Sciences are studying viral diseases such as dengue fever, a debilitating mosquito-borne illness that infects hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Scientists in the College of Engineering are developing a “digital dog nose” to detect explosives favored by terrorists who target airports. These examples provide just a glimpse of the breadth of the faculty’s work. Between 2012 and 2019, URI faculty members published 6,958 articles in peer-reviewed academic journals and generated 64,651 citations (Scopus, 2020.)

URI 2

UCONN 2

UNH 2

UMASS 2

UVM 2

UMAINE 2

All Staff 1

3,160

9,920

3,775

6,313

4,186

2,689

Instructional & Research Staff 1

1,182

3,225

1,113

2,048

1,526

822

Instructional Full Time to Part Time Ratio 1 2

2

2

4

3

2

Students (Under Grad & Grad) 1

17,777

27,412

15,298

30,593

13,581

11,404

Net Tuition & Fees Revenue

$292 M $396.8 M $325 M $895 M $390 M $264 M

State Appropriation

$81 M $357 M $81 M $780 M

$43 M $212 M

Grants & Contracts 3

$101 M $144 M $155 M $451 M 4

$184 M 4

$139 M

Adj. Grants & Contracts (w/out Medical School) Grants & Contract $/State Appropriation Adj. Grants & Contract/

$101 M $144 M $155 M $195 M $104 M $139 M

1

0

2

1

4

1

85,448

44,775

139,263

38,689

68,152

169,100

(Instructional + Research Staff)

1 Staff and student data reported in IPEDS reflects 2017-2018 2 Data for primary campuses only: UCONN = Storrs; UNH = Durham; UMASS = Amherst; UVM = Burlington; and UMAINE = Orono 3 ‘Grants & Contracts’ identified in published annual reports for 2018-2019 and reported for primary campuses only 4 ‘Grants & Contracts’ amounts for UMASS and UVM include medical school research awards

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16 The University of Rhode Island

For the first time in its history, URI faculty are testing a novel biologic agent, invented at URI, in human clinical trials. Biophysicists Yana Reshetnyak and Oleg Andreev have discovered a technology that can detect and treat cancerous tumors without harming the healthy cells surrounding them, thereby significantly reducing patients’ side effects. Their detection method could someday be used as a universal procedure, locating a problem before the patient ever feels ill. The key is in the acidity level of cells: the lower the number, the higher the acidity. Reshetnyak and Andreev’s discovery could be used to study arthritis, inflammation, infection, infarction, and stroke, since those conditions also produce high acidity. They also pioneered a novel delivery agent, a molecular nanosyringe, which can deliver and inject diagnostic or therapeutic agents to cancer cells. “Since we know the mechanism of delivery and translocation, we believe that we are able to tune the nanosyringe properties and engineer a novel class of therapeutic and diagnostic agents,” said Reshetnyak. About 1.6 million new cancer patients are diagnosed annually in the U.S., and that number is expected to reach 2 million cases per year in the next 10 years. Reshetnyak and Andreev are collaborating on a $1.5 million National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute grant with Jason S. Lewis, chief of radiochemistry service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan, New York. “Their research is innovative and exciting,” said Lewis. “It is also timely; the understanding of the tumor microenvironment, and in particular the pH of a tumor, is believed to be important in the metastatic spread of cancer. Their technology may allow for patient personalized therapies in the future.”

The URI Office of Intellectual Property and Economic Development works with URI researchers to: • protect their intellectual property, • license University technology to independent companies, and • launch new businesses. The office works closely with URI Ventures, which helps commercialize URI’s intellectual property. Among the office’s most recent achievements: $400,000 in licensing revenue for FY18 & FY19 combined, generated by current translational research efforts and commercialization at companies for a total of $650,000 since 2015. 42 Invention Disclosures in FY19 for commercial consideration, generating numerous opportunities for potential partners. This is the highest number of disclosures for one year in URI history. More than 120 invention disclosures were submitted in the past five years. 4 Active Start-Up Companies Since 2012, a total of four companies were launched, and all four are still operating in Rhode Island. One new start-up company was launched in FY19 to commercialize technology being developed at URI. 10 U.S. Patents in FY19, bringing URI’s patent portfolio to 36 issued U.S. patents since 2015. 42 Closed Deals, five license and 37 research commercialization agreements in FY19. The purpose of nine of the research agreements was to advance the technology of a Rhode Island manufacturer, with the remainder impacting companies across the United States.

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER & COMMERCIALIZATION

In addition to creating jobs the work of URI scientists contributes to the local economy through new product development and the commercialization of new technology. One invention is a glove fitted with sensors for Parkinson’s patients. The gloves send information to doctors, who can ensure that medications are working properly and, in turn, manage the patient’s treatment plan better. Another is a simpler way to measure the level of an immunosuppressive agent in organ transplant patients. An optimal therapeutic level of this agent is essential for these patients. The new testing method uses saliva instead of blood, which means it is not necessary for a health care provider to perform the test. These scientists have contributed to the state’s extraordinary success in bioscience-related patents: Rhode Island ranks eighth in the nation in bioscience-related patents per capita (Biotechnology Innovation Organization, 2018).

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18 The University of Rhode Island

URI RESEARCHERS HELPING OYSTER FARMERS AND FISHERIES BUILD THE ECONOMY OF RHODE ISLAND In Rhode Island, oyster populations can succumb to any of five diseases. In some cases, an infection can almost wipe out a farm’s entire supply. URI Professor Marta Gomez-Chiarri researches infectious disease in marine organisms and how to combat them. Her research with the Eastern Oyster Genome Consortium and the East Coast Shellfish Breeding Consortium will help speed up the process of breeding disease-resistant oysters. This research of how to cultivate stronger oysters and keep them healthy is particularly important to the more than 60 oyster farms in Rhode Island and business people like Perry Raso, owner of Rhode Island’s Matunuck Oyster Farm and the Matunuck Oyster Bar restaurant. “The value of the oysters has grown year after year,” said Raso, who sells more than a million oysters

per year between his restaurant and wholesale accounts. “We have to have good husbandry techniques and make sure we’re not overstocking or overstretching our resources. That makes having someone like Marta in the mix very valuable.” Commercial fishermen, scientists, and restaurateurs alike agree: There’s a huge demand for tuna. However, with wild tuna numbers rapidly declining, Terence Bradley, University of Rhode Island (URI) professor of fisheries and aquaculture science in the College of the Environment and Life Sciences (CELS), is looking to aquaculture for a better environmental and economic solution. Bradley teamed up with CELS alum and entrepreneur Peter Mottur to offset — or even eliminate — the pressure commercial fishing can put on wild fish stocks. In a public-private partnership,

URI and Mottur’s tuna production company, Greenfins, has been developing techniques, technology, and protocols to raise tuna, mahi mahi, and yellowtail kingfish in captivity through the Tuna Research Center of Excellence they established on URI’s Narraganssett Bay Campus. By fostering sustained production methods, Bradley’s vision is to enhance wild fish stocks so they can recover from overfishing. “We’re producing a clean industry with high-tech jobs that will provide fish for the market, in addition to what commercial fishermen are already producing,” Bradley said. “We believe that we’re working on a blue revolution.”

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20 The University of Rhode Island

URI ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

HELPING RHODE ISLAND BUSINESSES SUCCEED

ENTREPRENEURSHIP & INNOVATION Two programs funded by federal grants that support Rhode Island businesses fall under the purview of the Division of Research and Economic Development: The Rhode Island Small Business Development Center and the Polaris Manufacturing Extension Partnership. THE RHODE ISLAND SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER, supported by the federal Small Business Administration, helps aspiring entrepreneurs to start new businesses and existing businesses to thrive. Over 40 percent of RISBDC clients were not yet in business when they contacted the center. Its business counselors provide advice on topics such as business planning, accounting, taxes, licensing and marketing. Clients have ranged from an acupuncturist to a microbrewery, a mushroom farm to an auto repair shop, and from a biohazard cleanup service to a holistic healing center.

Expenditures on vendors subject to a multiplier effect are $21.6 million. Studies show that 90 percent of all service and manufacturing businesses with more than $700,000 in gross sales operate at margins of less than 10 percent, while 15 percent to 20 percent is likely ideal. Choosing a conservative multiplier of 15 percent because the majority of the center’s clients are service businesses, the total expenditures are estimated at $18,360,000. By applying an industry-standard multiplier of 1.9 to this amount (Kantor & Whalley, 2014), the Rhode Island Small Business Development Center can report an annual total economic impact of $34,884,000.

Its accomplishments for FY19 include: 541 Clients (475 percent growth since 2014). Aspiring entrepreneurs and existing small business owners sought out the center in record numbers. A total of 541 unique clients, of whom 189 (35 percent) identified as minorities and 243 (45 percent) identified as female, were supported by over 3,100 contact hours. 38 New Startups were launched by clients this past year alone. These newly minted business owners join an active network of 76 total local startups that have remained in business since 2014. 179 New Jobs which represents a 52 percent increase since 2014. To date, the center’s network of new startups and existing small business clients account for 2,352 jobs (1,779 full-time jobs and 573 part-time jobs) in Rhode Island.

$15.6 Million Investment Capital and $6.2 Million Annual Sales Growth (200 percent growth since 2014) and $10 million in profit for start-ups and existing small businesses in the state of Rhode Island. $350,000 of State Investment to support its operations in FY19. For every dollar of state appropriation, the center is returning $61.71 in new and small business capital. $1.08 Million in Total Expenditures to run its operations in FY19. For every dollar of organizational expenditure, it returns $20 in new and small business capital.

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Polaris Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Polaris MEP provides business improvement programs to Rhode Island’s existing manufacturing industry. It is part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) 50-state network of MEP programs. With its home in the URI Research Foundation, Polaris MEP provides an extraordinary return on investment for the state, which in FY19 awarded this program $350,000 in matching funds. For every dollar of this state funding, Polaris MEP has returned $172.29 in manufacturing capital. The partnership provides manufacturers with advice about lean manufacturing, facility layout, cybersecurity, quality management systems and technology acceleration. Among the numerous success stories is Kennedy Incorporated, a North Kingstown manufacturer of jewelry, medallions, and insignia that was founded by a World War II veteran of the Normandy Invasion. Polaris MEP clients include the Department of Defense and luxury brands such as BMW, Audi and Grey Goose Vodka. The 50-year-old company’s growth had stalled due to inconsistent demand and manufacturing bottlenecks, forcing it to slash staff. It sought advice on how to revitalize its operations. Polaris MEP recommended steps to eliminate waste, reposition inventory racks and to reduce floor activity that didn’t add value. As a result of receiving these consulting services, Kennedy was able to rehire staff and to increase its production volume by more than 400 percent.

URI ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT HELPING RHODE ISLAND MANUFACTURERS SUCCEED

“We know the manufacturing employers and employees better than anybody in the state, because we’re deployed out there, we know what they’re good at, we know what they need, we know their struggles,” Polaris MEP Director Christian Cowan said. “There are about 1600 manufacturers in the state, and Polaris works with roughly a third of them.”

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When looking at the Northeast region of MEP centers as a whole, Rhode Island’s Polaris MEP is outpacing the entire combined region (when normalized by funding) in terms of new sales, retained sales, jobs created and retained, cost savings, manufacturing clients served, and new manufacturing clients served.

Other partnership accomplishments in FY19 include: 84 Clients. Polaris MEP initiated a record high 109 total projects across 84 unique client companies. Rhode Island ranks in the bottom 20 percent (40 out of 50) in terms of raw number of manufacturing establishments. However, Polaris MEP has the sixth highest market penetration in the NIST MEP Network, based on FY19 clients and census data.

$15.9 Million in Total New Investments. Polaris MEP facilitated the injection of $15.9 million in new investment capital into its client base to fund operations and support growth through the successful implementation of competitive business improvement projects. $32.3 Million Total Sales. Polaris MEP clients reported $32.3 million in new sales. $12.1 Million Total Cost Savings. Polaris MEP clients reported $12.1 million in reduced operating costs. 925 Total Jobs. Polaris MEP clients reported the creation of 170 new jobs and 755 retained jobs for a total of 925 jobs. $2.5 Million Total Expenditures. Polaris MEP spent a total of $2.5 million to run its operations. For every dollar of organizational expenditure, Polaris MEP is returning $24.12 in manufacturing capital.

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FUTURE OUTLOOK Although the coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc with state budgets and is forcing significant changes across all major research institutions, the future for federal research funding remains bright at the present time. In spring

2020, Congress budgeted an additional $3.6 billion for research related to COVID-19. By summer, research laboratories at institutions across the country began to reopen, including those at URI, allowing our important work to continue (Mervis, 2020). There is no doubt that there will be peaks and troughs ahead, in terms of federal and state support for scientific research across all disciplines – and, in fact, this has always been the case. Here at URI, we have been building a research base and supporting infrastructure that is robust, impactful, and is

designed to withstand fluctuations in funding. Ultimately, the University of Rhode Island, as the state’s Land- and Sea- Grant research institution, is committed to a public trust that we share with our community: To advance knowledge through research, exploration, scholarship and creative expression, all in the service of improving our society, improving the community in which we live, and discovering new approaches to protecting environmental and human health, and global sustainability on a rapidly changing planet.

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METHODOLOGY

PREPARED BY:

REFERENCES Biotechnology Innovation Organization. (2018). Investment, Innovation and Job Creation in a Growing U.S. Bioscience Industry. https://www.bio.org/sites/default/files/legacy/bioorg/docs/TEConomy_BIO_2018_Report.pdf Brown, K. H., & Heaney, M. T. (1997). A note on measuring the economic impact of institutions of higher education. Research in Higher Education , 38(2), 228-240. Christophersen, K., Nadreau, T., & Olanie, A. (2014). The Rights and Wrongs of Economic Impact Analysis for Colleges and Universities . Retrieved on March 1, 2020 from: https://www.economicmodeling.com/2014/01/07/the-rights-and-wrongs-of- economic-impact-analysis-for-colleges-and-universities/ Elliott, D. S., Levin, S. L., & Meisel, J. B. (1988). Measuring the economic impact of institutions of higher education. Research in Higher Education , 28(1), 17-33. Kantor, S., & Whalley, A. (2014). Knowledge spillovers from research universities: Evidence from endowment value shocks. Review of Economics and Statistics , 96(1), 171-188. Mervis, J. (2020). U.S. academic research stays healthy despite pandemic. Science , 368(6497), 1298. National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education (2020). Integrated Postsecondary Educational Data System . [Data file]. Available from https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/use-the-data Scopus. (2020). [Data set]. Available at www.scopus.com. Siegfried, J. J., Sanderson, A. R., & McHenry, P. (2005). The Economic Impact of Colleges and Universities . Retrieved on March 1, 2020 from: https://ideas.repec.org/p/van/wpaper/0612.html

There is considerable debate in the literature with respect to the approaches that colleges and universities take to calculating economic impact; this concern extends to third party vendors who, despite their alleged objectivity, also stand to benefit from a result favorable to the client. Elliott, Levin, & Meisel (1988) appear to be among the first researchers to raise concerns about broadening of economic impact calculations by colleges and universities. These concerns continued to grow during the past three decades as economic impact studies become a political tool in the review of education appropriation. Christophersen, Nadreau, & Olanie (2014) argued that the approach to economic impact studies conducted on behalf of colleges and universities often leads to overstated impact measures. This issue is further exacerbated among study differences due to different interpretations of what constitutes an economic impact. Dollars generated from outside the state economy are the true value-added, which underscores the importance of external research grants and contracts to URI (see also Brown & Hearney 1997 and Siegfried, Sanderson, & McHenry 2005). Kantor & Whalley (2014) took an empirical approach to determining the local spillover effects from more university activity. The findings indicated that a $1 increase in university expenditures led to an $0.89 increase in average income within a city. Put another way, the overall multiplier effect of university activity is 1.9 (the university’s own dollar plus the external effect). The authors also suggested that these effects are likely larger and would continue to grow over time for universities that are more intensively focused on research and are closer to technologically progressive firms. Given that URI is not located in an urban setting, the committee decided to adopt the baseline of 1.9 as the multiplier effect.

Dr. Peter J. Snyder Vice President for Research & Economic Development Professor of Biomedical & Pharmaceutical Sciences Professor of Art & Art History

Dr. Maling Ebrahimpour Dean of the College of Business Alfred J. Verrecchia-Hasbro Leadership Chair

Jonathan Ross Gilbert PhD Candidate in Marketing

COORDINATING COMMITTEE: Christian Cowan, Edward Huttenhower, Dr. Michael Katz, Melissa McCarthy, Sanjay Mupparapu, and Dr. John M. Stringer.

Special thanks to the following members of the URI community for their invaluable efforts in providing support to this project: Tracey Angell, Christy Ashley, Mary Beth Arnold, Chris Barrett, Linda Barrett, Thorr Bjorn, Wendy Bucci, Scott Burdick, Patricia Casey, Patricia Correia, Amy Dunkle, Allison Farrelly, Melissa Frost, Clea Harrelson, Lori Jacolucci, Laura Kenerson, Shaun Kirby, Aria Mia Loberti, Cynthia Mace, Hugh Markey, Dr. Karen Markin, Bruce Mason, Elise Mason, Todd McLeish, Paula Murray, Ryan Pincince, Abigail Rider, Kathleen Shannon, Mary Springer, Joshua Ray Tanzer, Dr. Carol Thornber, Vincent Turco, Jeffrey Ulricksen, Tamara Vittone and Michelle Wood. Photos by: Scott Bernstein, Joe Giblin, Beau Jones, Nora Lewis, and Patrick Luce.

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Peter J. Snyder, Ph.D. Vice President for Research and Economic Development University of Rhode Island 75 Lower College Road Kingston, Rhode Island 02881 USA

DIVISION OF RESEARCH AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

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