Tuesday, October 10, 2006
CONTACT: Barry E. Piatt
or Brenden Timpe
PHONE: 202-224-2551
DORGAN SAYS RESEARCH CORRIDOR INITIATIVE HAS GIVEN BOOST TO UND RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
Senator secured $16 million for UND projects in recent appropriations bill
(GRAND FORKS, NORTH DAKOTA) --- U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) announced Tuesday that his effort to build a Red River Valley Research Corridor to attract leading high-tech businesses and good-paying jobs to North Dakota received a significant boost with an appropriations bill that directs $16 million in federal funding to research and training projects at the University of North Dakota (UND).
Dorgan created the Research Corridor as a way to harness the state’s research engines – especially its largest universities like UND – to create a high-tech research industry in North Dakota. The initiative has spurred dramatic growth in research activity at UND, attracting new partnerships with business and the federal government and creating good jobs that encourage the state’s youth to pursue careers close to home. Dorgan has directed a total of $141 million to projects at UND since 1998.
“The funding we’ve brought to projects in North Dakota is money that would have gone to research in California, Massachusetts, and a handful of other states. But we have the capability to do much of that work here in North Dakota, and it’s in the country’s interest to access the talent in our region, as well.”
The $16 million for projects at UND was included by Dorgan in the Fiscal Year 2007 Defense Appropriations bill. The funding will support research and training projects that build on the growing high-tech industry in the area while helping strengthen the nation’s military. Dorgan, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, is pushing Congress to approve funding for other valuable projects at UND and in the Grand Forks area in other pending appropriations bills.
“I created the Research Corridor in 2002 as a way to use the talent and infrastructure already in place at UND and other institutions in North Dakota to attract partnerships with business and government that would grow our state’s economy,” Dorgan said. “Since then, we’ve seen research opportunities at UND go through the roof, and we’ve attracted partnerships with companies like Alion Science and Technology. The $16 million I was able to secure in the Defense Appropriations bill will build on that foundation and help our state continue to grow as a center of high-tech research and development.”
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