PRAIRIE VIEW DOT COM?
A Partnership to Build Wealth in the Community
A. Anil Kumar
PRAIRIE VIEW A&M UNIVERSITY
Tel: (936)857-2591 Fax: (936)857-3928
September 28, 2000
City Hall, Prairie View, Texas
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EXPECTED SIGNS OF DEVELOPMENT
• Stronger, expanded businesses
• Initiation of new businesses
• Business and technology incubators
• Better and more housing
• Increased standard of living
• New and improved educational and training
programs in schools
• Several businesses an integral part of
manufacturer supply chains and nationally
recognized
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COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DRIVERS
Decision making criteria for businesses moving into new areas
• Education
• good schools
•continuing education
• research
• Quality of Life
• safe neighborhoods
•recreational/cultural outlets
• Access to a skilled workforce
• all Levels
• Advanced Communications Infrastructure
• Internet access
• high bandwidth facilities
• state-of-the-art services
• priced reasonably
The Economic Development role of communications is to connect communities and
individuals to each other and to the wealth of available information each needs
to succeed and to improve the quality of life.
From Harry Perry
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SO WHAT DO WE DO?
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
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Imagination drives creativity
Can only create what we can imagine.
See it in the “minds eye”.
Only natural to plan backwards from the future.
Start with “imagine if”, invent your own future and
plan backwards from there.
ƒ Think 5-10 years out
ƒ Understand what is driving change and therefore the
future
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WHAT IS OUR VISION?
What do you want PV to be in 5, 10, 15 years?
What are we prepared to offer?
Unique environment? New perspectives from a small town?
We need to make up our mind on what we are good at.
We don’t have to be a maddening large city hubbub. We could provide
manageable, a unique environment for growth.
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A VISION - PRAIRIE VIEW IN 2005
Business Park
Incubator Park
Research Park
Daycare
Restaurant
Training
Centers
Zip Shuttles
Business
School
Hospital
QuickTime™ and a
BMP decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Business
Park
Grocery Store Community
Center
Business
Business
Park
Hotel
Bank
Police Dept.
City Hall
Restaurant
Factory
Business
Cinema
Restaurant
Recreation/
Playground/
Park
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WHAT ARE OUR CHALLENGES?
Greater isolation from resources
Limited human resources
Limited social and commerce infrastructure
Limited budgets
Limited access to information
State/federal designations out of our
control - example, we are considered a
metropolitan area not a rural area!
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The only accurate way to predict the future is to create it.
That means - work backwards
FUTURE
3
4
2
1
TODAY
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EXAMPLE - PHYTOTECH
•
Use plants to clean up environment - extract lead from the
DOD firing grounds or uranium from Ashtabula site in
Ohio
•
Submitted 50 proposals for $11M to finally receive $1.1M
•
Grow plants hydroponically, replant them and extract
lead and other minerals - Iron, Chromium, Selenium - an
excellent market for phytonutrients, fastest growth sector
in industry
•
100 lbs of Chromium sold by GNC as chromium
picolinate
•
Selenium helps prevent cancer - received funds from
National Cancer Institute for testing plant material for
chimoprevention
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EXAMPLE - WHEELCHAIR DESIGN
Hotchkiss Torbellino (Spanish for whirlwind).
The front wheel design is from an African pushcart.
The rear hub is from a British motorcycle wheel rebuilt in
Nicaragua.
They are welded together using the technique of mechanics
in Zimbabwe.
The tubular armrests are adapted from an ancient Japanese
wheelchair by craftsmen in the Philippines.
The Torbellino - the Land Rover of wheelchairs - is made
for $100 in a small Sri Lankan shop and can be repaired by
anyone who can fix a bicycle. "It's the very ordinariness,"
says Hotchkiss, "that makes it so beautiful - and useful."
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SKILLS NEED FOR THE NEW ECONOMY
MACHINE SHOPS
OLD
NEW
Manually-operated tools - lathes
and drilling machines
Computer-programmed
machine tools
Skills in reading gauges and
other measurement devices
Skills in computer
programming
Manual
dexterity
acquired
through long periods of training
and doing.
Knowledge management, team
skills
literacy,
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WAYS TO INTERACT WITH PVAMU
• Joint proposals for Small Business Innovation
Research (SBIR)/Small business Technology
Transfer Research (STTR) initiatives
• Joint proposals for technology transfer projects
• Business and Technology Incubators
• PV City and Waller County hiring students and
faculty to conduct feasibility studies and
developing strategic plans.
• PVAMU faculty and staff assisting the City and the
County in collaborative oportunities.
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What Can PVAMU Do?
•
PVAMU can be a catalyst and the glue in
fostering and sustaining new developments!
•
Education and training of a new generation of
technical managers
•
Pre-incubation services for potential start-ups
•
Orientation
residents
programs
for
the
community
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ACTION ITEMS
• Create a web-site for Prairie View.
• Catalog community capabilities.
• Identify and prioritize business and community
needs.
• Identify categories of capabilities for funding
potential - SBIR/STTR, corporate foundations,
philanthropic foundations, and generate proposals.
• Identify ways in which we can assist and support
each other.
• Hold monthly forums to continue to exchange ideas,
update available opportunities, and devise and
formulate productive responses.
• Develop a comprehensive strategic plan for the City.
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MY BELIEF
Prairie View
has an
excellent
opportunity
to be a global
player!
COMMUNITY
PV
UNIVERSITY
CITY
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“The big won’t beat the small - the fast will beat the slow.”
- John Chambers, President, Cisco Systems
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It is simply amazing what can be accomplished
when everyone works towards the same goal.
Let us continue to build on our strengths.
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