The Utah Board of Business and Economic Development wants to recover some of the money the state spends on the Centers of Excellence program but doesn't know exactly how to go about it. The state is prohibited from taking an equity interest in any company that evolves from the program.
Therefore, the board is asking the attorney general for an opinion on how the money could be recovered in the form of royalties, convertible debentures or other legal means.The idea for an attorney general's opinion was fostered by board member John Price, who believes the companies formed through the Centers of Excellence program should repay the state some money for helping them get started. The issue surfaced when Mike Alder, centers director, presented a list of requests for money from the 29 centers the board is required to approve.
Jerry Foote, deputy centers director, said the requests total $3.6 million and the Legislature appropriated only $2.5 million. This means trimming must be done before a final decision is made in June. Here are the requests:
Center for Aerospace Technology, Weber State University, $100,000; Center for Advanced Composites Manufacturing, Brigham Young University, $150,000; Center for Computer-aided Engineering Design and Manufacturing, BYU, $200,000; Center for Cancer Genetic Epidemiology, University of Utah, $159,323.
Center for Chemical Technology, WSU, $100,000; Center for Computer Graphics and Scientific Visualization, U. of U., $100,000; Center for Dairy Foods Technology, Utah State University, $139,510; Center for Inverse Problems, Imaging, U. of U., $100,000.
Center for Meat Processing, USU, $169,640; Center for Software Science, U. of U., $170,938; Center for Solid Waste Recycling, USU, $120,000; Center for 3D Computer Graphics, Dixie College, $50,000; Center for Very Large Silicon Integration, U. of U., $120,153; Center for Value Added Seed Technology, USU, $70,000.
Center for Biocatalysis, USU, $80,200; Center for Biotechnology, USU, $50,000; Center for Supercomputer, $200,000; Center for Advanced Combustion Engineering Research Center, BYU, $100,000; Center for Supercritical Fluid, BYU, $100,000; Center for Controlled Chemical Delivery, U. of U., $100,000.
Center for Engineering Design, U. of U., $100,000; Center for Space Engineering Research, $100,000; Center for Carbon Water Slurries, BYU, $38,000; Center for Infrastructure Design and Public Works Policy, U. of U., $10,000 planning grant; Center for Integrated Science Education, U. of U., $136,040.
Center of Magnetism in Information Technology, USU, $503,824; Center for Biomedical Separations, U. of U., $104,294; Center for Networking Computer, $150,000; and Center for Meat Processing (genetic improvement), USU, $99,000.