RAIN Rural America Innovation Network

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RAINRural America Innovation Network
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• 1. Business Attraction and Retention Economic
  Development Incentives
• 2. Federally Subsidized Programs Commodity
  Based Economy in Rural America
• 3. Tourism/Conventions/Attractions
• 4. Entrepreneurial Activities
• 5. Technology Based Economic Development

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• The National Institute for Strategic
  Technology Acquisition and Commercialization
  (NISTAC), and New Economy Strategies (NES) have
  developed the Rural America Innovation Network
  (RAIN) program as one innovative and proven
  solution to address the national dilemma of
  stalled rural economic development.
• Through the successful commercialization of
  University intellectual property and acquired,
  market-grade technologies and intellectual
  properties, RAIN has demonstrated that new
  companies can be built in selected rural regions
  upon not only the successful implementation of
  regionally generated ideas and innovation, but
  also by the transfer and application of
  technologies from larger urban environments.

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Key Assumptions

• Rural America is technology deficient, not
  generating internally adequate levels of new
  technologies to enable them to prosper in the
  future technology and innovation-driven economy
• Rural America is viewed as a twindling resource
  to U.S. Competitiveness though it still produces
  significant numbers of students, adult learners,
  natural resources, and inexpensive
  land-infrastructure site locations for expansion
  of facilities and operations.
• Rural America has access to a variety of
  intellectual property sources including
  land-grant academic research institutions,
  several federal interests including laboratories
  and agency programs, national organizations for
  agricultural and extension-related services, and
  state-local projects and initiatives aimed at
  strengthening non-urban areas of the country. Yet
  little is done to integrate these resources into
  a comprehensive strategy for the New Economy
• Incremental steps, well thought-out and executed,
  can have significant impact on rural communities
  by leveraging networks of national and regional
  competencies in innovation, entrepreneurship,
  technology commercialization.

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• RAIN offers, through its national collaborative
  network, end to end formulas and methodologies to
  bring necessary resources, expertise, capital and
  know-how to interested rural communities. The
  components include a national network of critical
  support to enterprise development
• Human capital and expertise
• Transitional strategies for
  technology/intellectual
• property
• University participation
• State and federal collaboration and much
  needed
• financial capital.
• RAINs successful model combines all of
  these elements to show tangible results in a
  replicable and scalable model for national
  adoption. RAIN draws from the nations largest,
  most diverse and potentially most valuable
  portfolio of donated patents, involving over
  1,100 patents in over 30 distinct fields of
  technology, as well as an extensive National
  Network to acquire additional strategic
  technologies.

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ROI

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Proposal to Advance Technology-Based Rural
Development

• RAIN seeks to partner with 5-7 State Directors of
  the Rural Development Agency to assess and design
  a framework for increased competitiveness and
  innovation capacity building.
• RAIN serves as the coordinator and facilitator
  for the assessment and solution development with
  the 5-7 pilot locations thereby becoming the
  Intellectual Property Integrator and
  Entrepreneurial Resource Manager by providing a
  platform for matching resource-rich academic and
  industry interests with rural demands
• Using a tested-methodology, RAIN would create a
  18-36 month process of matching academic and
  industry research and intellectual property
  development with needs of rural end-users.

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WHO IS ELIGIBLE?

• The States included in the FHLB Annual
  Conferences are candidates for inclusion in the
  RAIN initiative.
• If the communities you represent have both
  the need for the RAIN solution and the desire
  to participate in the pilot projects, contact us
  directly
• Kent Glasscock, President NISTAC
• Email kentglas_at_ksu.edu
• Phone [phone]
• FAX [phone]