Leath Hopes to Create Iowa Version of Research Triangle Park

President Steve Leath said he hopes to create a commercial corridor from Ames to Des Moines that would focus on research and manufacturing in agriculture and other areas.

Leath hopes to realize the vision by hiring more than 200 faculty in the next two years, as reported by KCRG.

Leath said to the Des Moines Register:

"One thing I want to do is to make sure they are organized hires, cluster hires, so we can really make an impact in some areas."

Leath said he planned to make the corridor happen by filling open university positions and positions financed by private enterprise and grants modeling the corridor after Raleigh's Research Triangle Park.

Reversing Iowa's brain drain has long been an issue in the state. Educated college graduates must leave to find employment matching their skills. Changing that trend might seem lofty to some.

However Leath told the Iowa Innovation Council in Des Moines that the area is in a much better position than North Carolina prior to the research triangle park's creation.

A Des Moines Register blog quoted Leath saying, “North Carolina didn't have nearly the assets in place that Iowa has.”

Research Triangle Park got its start in 1959. Leath said he hopes that Iowa can create a commercial corridor much more quickly building on established companies already in place such as DuPont and Syngenta.

The corridor is part of a long term development plan called Capital Crossroads, according to the Register.

On the web: A Capital Crossroads