As Utah's top business and economic development leaders have looked across the country and the world at what attracts and creates new high-tech businesses and high-paying jobs, it is clear that the principal catalyst is basic research and development by world-class teams of researchers. These teams are not simply doing research for the fun of academic inquiry. They are working with an eye toward commercialization of new technologies — the creation of high-demand products in rapid-growth businesses that will be commercial successes.

The basic proposition of USTAR is that if the state will invest seed money to attract and house several dozen of these super-star teams conducting leading-edge research in carefully focused specialties where Utah already has advantages and core competencies, the result will be an enormous return on investment in the form of federal and private grants, new businesses, thousands of jobs, and increased tax revenues.

The model has been proven over and over again. This is not pie-in-the-sky. Many teams clustered at research institutions have brought in enough grant money alone to make the state's investment worthwhile, to say nothing of the real payoff, which is the business spinoffs and new jobs.

In some hotbeds of research around the country, as many as 50 new businesses have been created around just one particular area of research.

The USTAR proposal has been carefully refined over the past couple of years so it is not a "build it and they will come" approach. Utah has a handful of specialties and core competencies where it is tops in the world, with the potential to create and expand literally hundreds of businesses.

The foundation of one such area is genomics, which can take advantage of Utah's Population Database, the best such resource in the world. Scientists at the University of Utah and Utah State University have pioneered techniques in genetic research, imaging and information technologies, and cellular research that are the critical "know-how" in emerging industries such as personalized medicine, regenerative medicine, microbial biotechnology, genetic-based cancer and neurological treatments, and homeland security technologies to counter bioterrorism.

Utah leads the world in the genetic discovery technologies that are at the core of all of these areas of expertise. And the good news for Utah's economy is this: These are multibillion-dollar markets where hundreds of new businesses and even entire new industries will arise and flourish.