Opinion
A Push For Glenn:
NASA center must emerge from its place in the shadows to fulfill its potential as a force in the local economy
The Plain Dealer

03/26/2003
The Plain Dealer Cleveland, OH
Final
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(Copyright (c) The Plain Dealer 2003)

It is not entirely true that Greater Cleveland and the NASA Glenn Research Center exist in splendid isolation from one another. The center employs roughly 3,700 people and annually pumps hundreds of millions of dollars into the local economy. Over the years, it has forged some important partnerships with local universities and industries. When Glenn's budget has been in danger, this region's business and political leaders have always descended on Washington to lead its defense.

And yet Glenn has never been the engine of innovation and growth that other federal research laboratories are for their regions.

Part of the blame rests with the center. Born in wartime secrecy, it worked for decades behind locked gates. Those days are gone, but old habits die hard. Compared to other NASA centers, Glenn remains slow to seek partners and to tell its story. Even local universities and technology-oriented firms often have little sense of what Glenn does—or could do.

That could soon change, thanks to a new blueprint from Columbus- based Battelle Memorial Institute, which for nearly 75 years has helped turn emerging technologies into practical applications. Battelle compared Glenn with seven other national laboratories, all noted for economic impact. It found that although Glenn certainly is engaged in some important efforts to leverage its strengths—the Glennan Microsystems Initiative, for one—both the center and the region could do much more.

The report says Glenn, local universities and regional industries should work more closely to share information and research and to court new research dollars. In particular, it calls on Glenn and its local supporters to think about how the center might take advantage of new money that will be available when the state's Third Frontier program is up and running.

Politically, Glenn needs to make sure that its abilities are known and appreciated within a NASA establishment that was reassessing its future role even before the recent Columbia tragedy; regional leaders need to aid in that endeavor with a continuing effort to enhance current strengths and find new niches. It's high time Glenn's leadership realized there's nothing wrong with self- promotion, or with encouraging its allies to make sure Washington understands how the center can affect the economic future of Northeast Ohio.

Carrying out this plan will require new mindsets all around and some significant investment of public and private resources. But the payoff could be enormous in an emerging economy where brainpower is a critical resource. Battelle estimates that its recommendation could lead to 12,000 new jobs and billions in new investment over the coming decade.

Responsibility for moving ahead resides primarily with the leaders of Glenn and the Ohio Aerospace Council, the consortium of education and industry leaders who commissioned Battelle's study. The sooner they get started, the better. Glenn's potential impact on this region is too enormous to languish any longer.