Dick Thornburgh was Governor of Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1987 and U.S. Attorney General from 1988 to 1991. After his time in politics, Thornburgh reentered private legal practice, returning to Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis, the law firm he originally joined in 1958. In 1982, Thornburgh was one of the prime sponsors of the legislation that created the Ben Franklin Technology Partners. He sat down with KEYnotes to discuss the organization's legacy and future.

Dick Thornburgh was Governor of Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1987 and U.S. Attorney General from 1988 to 1991. After his time in politics, Thornburgh reentered private legal practice, returning to Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis, the law firm he originally joined in 1959. In 1983, Governor Thornburgh was one of the prime promoters of the legislation that created the Ben Franklin Technology Partners.

What exactly did you have in mind when you first suggested the concept of Ben Franklin Technology Partners?
In the early 1980s, the Pennsylvania economy was in precarious shape. We had lost a lot of our industrial base to foreign competition. Companies were moving to other regions of the United States, and there were problems in the management of some of our manufacturers.

As we studied how to move our economy in a more future-oriented way, we discovered a largely hidden asset in the research colleges and universities across the state. So the Ben Franklin Partnership was formed to provide a link between those technological facilities and the entrepreneurial community, ensuring that research done there was converted into the potential for products, economic development and high-quality jobs for Pennsylvanians.

Universities have enormous intellectual capital to contribute, but they're not always in the best position to market the products developed as a result of their scientific expertise. That's where the entrepreneurial community comes in.

What do you see as the role of the Ben Franklin Technology Partners?
One is making more risk capital available. Capital is always in short supply for products and processes—this is not billions, and in many cases, we're not even talking about millions. We are talking about seed money and fostering an atmosphere where venture capital companies are going to be investing in Pennsylvania opportunities. We're talking about the kind of funding that permits ideas to move from the basement and the garage into the marketplace.

Second is enterprise development—helping small businesses acquire the expertise that will enable them to compete. This means helping companies develop management skills, lessons learned from other similarly situated organizations, in kind of a mentorship program. This is designed to see that the business aspect works as well as the technological aspect. Third, and I think perhaps most important, are the university-industry linkages, which was certainly an important part of the original Ben Franklin Partnership program.

What is your opinion of Ben Franklin Technology Partners' impact?
I am proud of this program. There is no question that Ben Franklin Technology Partners has set the gold standard across the country. Today, nearly every other state in the union has a similar type of program. It's not often that a state program can last 25 years through a variety of political administrations. The Ben Franklin partnership has helped reshape the image and the reality of Pennsylvania's economic base. We are no longer viewed as a "smokestack state." We are at the leading edge of new technologies, new businesses and more job-creating opportunities.

How can universities make the most of state and federal funds for research and development?
When the Ben Franklin program first began, many universities simply wanted more funding that they could utilize as they wished, and we made it quite clear that this was a different type of program. This was a partnership, and they had to secure the necessary partners at their own locale to create new jobs and small businesses and other opportunities in order to qualify for participation. Today this concept is readily recognized among universities. Universities don't want to do research in a vacuum, particularly when it comes to new products and processes. They are eager to see their research translated into products that can be marketed.

What areas of technology development are you particularly interested in?
I have had a longtime interest in people with disabilities, and I'm keeping an eye on a number of Pennsylvania projects that are pursuing advanced technologies to help those with disabilities. This is a very exciting area. The biggest breakthroughs have been made in communications—helping people who have limited speech or limited physical capabilities to communicate through computers and voice-activated communication technologies.

Many critics of economic development efforts may not realize the social benefits. Can the two go hand in hand?
There is no question about that. You begin, of course, with job creation, coupled with job training and retraining programs. I remember several instances when I was in office visiting people who had been thrown out of work due to the decline in our industrial base. They had to be retrained and then acquired well-paying jobs in technology industries. They were smaller companies, sure; but the security of a job was and still is very important. That is the biggest social benefit. I mentioned the disability area, but there really isn't any area in American society today that can't be enhanced by the imaginative use of leading-edge technology.

What do you see as key technology thrust areas? How can we be more competitive in these arenas?
The answer changes day to day. It comes down to what we must do as a nation and a state to stay in the front ranks of developing technology. What was at the front row of potential technologies 25 years ago when the Ben Franklin Partnership was formed is quite different from what we face today.

Let me give you a simple example. In 1983, there was no World Wide Web and no capability for the kind of instant communication that we have on the computer today. In the brief 25 years since then, a whole new technology and whole new lifestyle was created. We can hardly imagine what will happen in the next 25 years, but that is what our science and technology sector is about—keeping abreast of those developments and capitalizing on what is going on in the technology community. It is important that we in Pennsylvania keep in the front ranks by capitalizing on the resources that we have.

Is an organization like Ben Franklin Technology Partners more important today than it was 25 years ago?
Absolutely. It is vitally important to keep abreast of developments in science and technology and make the most of them. Incidentally, I was always quite taken with the use of the name Ben Franklin Technology Partners because that historical figure contributed so much to our society. He became a Pennsylvanian, and he is identified as a Pennsylvanian. The characteristics he had are precisely those that we need to capitalize on in today's technology.

Ben Franklin was a scientist, an inventor, a businessman, an educator, a statesman—and I would say that he was a damned good politician as well. Those skills are precisely what's needed to convert the technological expertise in our colleges and universities into new jobs, new products and greater economic growth in our state.

What role does the Ben Franklin Technology Partners have in our technology economy over the next 25 years?
As a developer of technology-related opportunities, the Ben Franklin Partnership won't just play a role, it will be a focal point. A point worth making is that a lot of these technologies don't necessarily make new products—but they do offer opportunities to improve products that are already on the market or processes that are used in particular businesses. A lot of small and medium-size businesses are simply out of touch with any opportunity to do that. Ben Franklin can provide a nexus between colleges and universities and all kinds of industry.