Emmert

Maybe it's the fact that he's stepping down as president of the University of Washington. Or, perhaps he was just in a chatty kind of mood. But Mark Emmert -- who announced in April his plans to resign from state's largest research university to take the top post at the NCAA -- didn't mince words when it came to describing what the state needs to do to foster the innovation economy.

Speaking today on a panel at the CityClub anniversary luncheon, Emmert laid out what it takes to spark innovation. Quite simply, he said it is all about smart people and great ideas. If the state fails to produce those two raw materials -- and it has a bit of a mixed record in doing so in the past in Emmert's view -- then we might just end up like Pittsburgh.

Emmert's remarks drew loud applause, so I am including an extended excerpt of the comments below:

"When you think about the 21st century or even the foreseeable future -- let's say the next 20 years -- I am very fond of saying that the two raw materials for economic success are smart people and great ideas. If you are a place that can create and collect very smart, very innovative people and you product or can draw to you lot's of great innovative ideas, then you have a chance to win. It doesn't mean that you will win. You can still mess it up, but you have a chance to win. If you are missing either one of those two, you will fail.

There are lots of universities, for example, that produce lots of interesting ideas but there are not places that can accumulate enough smart, innovative folks from around the world to be successful. There are lots of places that have lots of smart people but they don't attract good ideas and innovation and capture them in a creative market in which they can be successful.

So, you have to produce lots of smart people and lots of great ideas. That's all the University of Washington does. We only have two products: smart people and great ideas. That's just a fact, and that's what a great research intensive university does. So, if you have in your midst a world-class research university then you have a fighting chance to be successful in the 21st century.

Obviously, I am not unbiased. But it would seem to me that you would want to help that entity that produces your raw material to be successful in every way that you can. And we have a mixed record in the state of Washington of doing that and I can say this because I have resigned, but you have to fix that. If you don't, then the engine that produces the raw material will be in a grave struggle in the coming years and you will become Pittsburgh. Not that Pittsburgh is a bad place. Pittsburgh is a great place. But you will not be that engine in the future and that is worrisome.

When I look at the funding model we have in the state of Washington right now, it is unequivocally broken. I am getting on my soap box a bit here, but you all need to know that we have cut funding of public universities in this state so much so now that Western Washington -- which is a very good university -- now has the state funding ... on a per student basis which is lower than the community colleges. I want that to sink in. We now spend less money per student at Western than we spend on our community colleges. That's nuts. So, we need to find a way to fix that or else we will not be producing the work force we need for the future."

Emmert was joined on the panel by Madrona Venture Group's Greg Gottesman; SonoSite CEO Kevin Goodwin; Modumetal CEO Christina Lomasney; and Dr. Yoky Matsuoka. The discussion was led by Barry Mitzman, a professor at the Seattle University Center for Strategic Communications.

In addition to the UW serving as an engine of the economy, Gottesman pointed out that tax laws must be established in the state to support entrepreneurs and that the state becomes a home for the most talented people who want to start new businesses. Goodwin added that the culture of risk taking must be supported.

"I am worried ... with the mindset we have right now that people are going to move away from risk taking -- just as a general rule," he said. "I think not losing that is very important." Goodwin also noted challenges with the quality of life, pointing specifically to traffic issues.

UPDATE: Here's more coverage from the event from Crosscut's David Brewster, who focused on a debate stirred by a story in The Seattle Times over the weekend which noted that "old economy" companies had created more shareholder value in the Northwest in the past decade.

Madrona's Gottesman was particularly upset by the premise of the story, calling it "utterly ridiculous" because the Times started its analysis at the apex of the tech bubble. "It is so misleading, it is almost dangerous," Gottesman said.

Emmert had not read the report, but he said to even hint at the idea of technology not being an important driver of the Northwest economy would be "silly."