Jerry Adams
Jerry Adams retired from Acxiom Corp. in 2007 after 34 years in a variety of senior leadership roles there. He started the nonprofit Arkansas Research Alliance in 2008.
Active in the state’s startup community, Adams chairs the board of BioVentures, the tech startup incubator at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences; serves on the board of VIC Technology Venture Development in Fayetteville, a for-profit incubator; sits on the management committee of Fund for Arkansas’ Future, the state’s first angel fund; and is a member of the advisory board for the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub, among numerous other positions.
Describe the mission of ARA and specifically the role of its ARA Scholars and Fellows programs.
The mission of ARA is to increase the strategic impact of university research on the economic future of Arkansas. ARA evolved from the strategic plan of Accelerate Arkansas. The initial program launched in 2010 was the Arkansas Scholars Program, which is focused on recruiting world-class research leaders to one of the five research universities in the state: the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville; the University of Arkansas at Little Rock; the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock; the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff; and Arkansas State University in Jonesboro.
To date, ARA has worked with these universities to recruit eight ARA Scholars — extraordinary new talent — to Arkansas. In 2014, ARA initiated a companion program, the ARA Fellows program, to identify and recognize outstanding research leaders who are already in Arkansas making extraordinary impact. So far, nine ARA Fellows have been recognized covering all five research universities.
Funding for both the ARA Scholars and ARA Fellows programs is provided by the state of Arkansas through the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.
How crucial has it been not only to recruit world-class research leaders to Arkansas but keep them here as well?
Recruiting and retaining research leaders is critically important. You do this by building critical mass of talent, and through innovation and infrastructure you build a path to commercialization and economic impact.
In 2009, ARA commissioned a study by Battelle to identify the core research competencies in Arkansas. This report identified nine strategic focus areas. I mention this because it is critically important to concentrate on research areas where Arkansas can be highly competitive and create economic value through innovation. All ARA Scholars and ARA Fellows are focused on the Battelle strategic focus areas.
This fall ARA will bring together the eight ARA Scholars and nine ARA Fellows for the first annual ARA Academy primarily to focus on how we accelerate their impact and speed to market, stressing the priority of collaborative research across campuses.
Describe the nature of ARA’s collaboration with the National Center for Toxicological Research in Jefferson County and its potential impact in terms of high-paying tech jobs.
In August 2011, Gov. Beebe signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the state of Arkansas and the Food & Drug Administration. FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg came here for the 40th anniversary of NCTR and signed the MOU at that time. In September, 2013, ARA and Dr. Hamburg signed a Partnership Intermediary Agreement that absorbed the priorities of the MOU and engaged ARA to elevate the collaborative efforts between NCTR and the state.
NCTR is an impressive FDA Federal Laboratory – approximately 700 employees of which 150 are PhD researchers. The presence of NCTR in Arkansas is a critical research differentiator.
Collaboration is critical; connecting the dots of our primary pockets of research talent in the state is where the leverage is. ARA has hit the ground running. There are now two major research projects managed by ARA, a nanomaterial/graphene project funded at $2.5 million engaging NCTR plus the five research universities, and a new bioinformatics project focused on liquid biopsies funded just under $1 million.
These two projects are underway. With the growth of precision medicine and the human genome, information quality, information management and bioinformatics are exploding. Plus, it has set up a new Arkansas BioInformatics Consortium, and FDA has provided funding for its annual conference for five years.
Arkansas has a strong history around computers and computational competence — Acxiom, Wal-Mart, Alltel — and the emerging area of bioinformatics is evolving as a key focus, led by NCTR and UAMS with strong support from the other universities.
When you were at Acxiom, the state’s tech startup ecosystem was practically nonexistent. What changed?
I retired from Acxiom in 2007, and you are right, the ecosystem was nonexistent, but there was an emerging vision. Many people have had a hand in the evolution of this ecosystem: Accelerate Arkansas was there early, building the vision of the knowledge economy; Innovate Arkansas and its effort with the ARK Challenge; Arkansas Capital’s leadership with the Governor’s Cup; and Carol Reeves’ unrelenting leadership with entrepreneurial education and business plan competitions; the collective efforts of ASTA, AEDC and of course, Accelerate Arkansas.
Leaders like James Hendren, Jeff Amerine, Clete Brewer, Jeff Stinson, Warwick Sabin, Lee Watson, John James, Tom Chilton; funding sources like Funds for Arkansas’ Future, Gravity Ventures, Hayseed Ventures, New Roads, Risk Capital Matching Fund and other efforts like the Innovation Hub and the Arkansas Venture Center — the list goes on.
Add to this the effort with STEM – the EAST Lab, the STEM Coalition, the Hi-tech High Schools, progress with advanced placement and efforts with pre-K – all of this adds up to progress with a competitive ecosystem. Gov. Hutchinson’s leadership with his computer coding program is strategically critical.
What’s next for ARA?
A new Battelle Study is expected soon. This will help us prioritize and potentially narrow our research efforts. It should also help us focus on areas of strategic leverage. But in general, ARA has to stay on message.
Growth with the ARA Scholars and ARA Fellows programs is critical. The strategic partnership with ARA and FDA/NCTR is not only gaining momentum but becoming more efficient in connecting the crucial research dots. The board is engaged and excited about its role and vision, so we are very excited about 2016 and beyond.
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