A prominent former US politician made the call last week for public sector bodies to change their approach to economic development. Jim Hunt, the former governor for the dynamic Southern state of North Carolina which is home to the renowned Research Triangle, made the call at a speech at a technology conference in May.

 "I believe North Carolina can compete economically," said Hunt, now a partner at the Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice law firm. "It will require us to have a plan." He went on to list eight improvements he considers necessary to make the state a globally competitive force.

Perhaps his most aggressive suggestion was to split the N.C. Department of Commerce in half, with 50 percent of the department's existing staff directed to work solely with entrepreneurs and small companies.

Hunt, who was governor from 1976 to 1984 and 1992 to 2000, noted the irony in his suggestion, given his reputation for helping attract big new employers to the state. For example, he recalled making three recruitment visits to London to meet Glaxo executives before they made a major investment in Research Triangle Park.

"But now we have to think in a different way," Hunt said, noting that he now prefers supporting "hundreds of small companies" rather than focusing on a few giant ones.

Hunt also urged the 200 businesspeople at the conference to support increased education funding. Citing Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan, Hunt said, "America's economic future depends on our intellectual capital."

His other suggestions included calls to:

1. Develop economic clusters involving industries with the greatest potential growth.
2. Invest more in science and technology education throughout the educational system.
3. Emphasize technology transfer from the universities to the state's business community.

There is also a critical need to redouble efforts to attract the creative class cited by author Richard Florida

"If we don't provide it, they'll go somewhere else," Hunt said.

At a session following Hunt's speech, some of the state's leading venture capitalists noted the UNC system isn't producing enough successful spin-off companies. Mitch Mumma of Durham-based Intersouth Partners blamed "cultural issues" for that shortfall, including a disdain for business among some academic officials. That's particularly disappointing, he said, given that the Triangle's three major universities -- Duke, UNC and N.C. State -- receive more federal research dollars than virtually any other academic cluster in the nation.