9 nominees named to allot USTAR funds

The names of nine people nominated to an advisory board that will divide up more than $200 million in research funds for Utah universities were announced Thursday.

The board members will oversee exactly who gets money as part of the Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative (USTAR), a state-funded push to create spin-off companies and spur economic growth through academic research.

The board nominations still must be approved by the state Senate during the interim session later this month.

When the USTAR funds are released in July, the board will begin allotting money to the University of Utah and Utah State University to hire new research teams and begin building state-of-the-art research facilities on each campus.

"USTAR represents the future of Utah's economy and our long-term commitment to capturing our unique competitive advantages as a state," Gov. Jon M. Huntsman Jr. said. "This board truly represents the finest professionals available to implement this important initiative."

The nominations to the USTAR board are Scott Anderson, CEO of Zions Bank; Hunter Jackson, former CEO of NPS Pharmaceuticals; Cathy Petti, medical director of ARUP Infectious Diseases Laboratory; Dan Olsen, Brigham Young University professor; Dinesh Patel, partner of Vspring; Charlie Precourt, vice president of Advanced Strategic Programs at ATK Systems Group; Jack Sunderlage, president and CEO of Contentwatch; and Jim Dreyfous, partner in UV Partners.

State Treasurer Ed Alter was already appointed as the ninth board member as part of the legislation passed this year.

Sunderlage said he and many of the other nominees have been campaigning for USTAR for more than a year, pushing the package as "true economic development."

The goal, he added, is to eventually use university research to create 433 spin-off companies and 123,000 new jobs in Utah in 30 years.

"If we don't make the investment and attract these researchers, we're clearly falling behind. Not only will we not attract new talent, we'll be losing talent," he said.

Sunderlage serves as president and CEO of ContentWatch Inc., a software provider. Sunderlage also worked as vice president of global accounts for Hewlett-Packard, and now serves as chairman of the Utah Information Technology Association. That expertise combined with the professional experience of the other nominees will help the board guide the USTAR process, not micromanage it, Sunderlage said.

Although the board does get to approve all new hires under USTAR, Sunderlage said he hopes to give the universities as much autonomy as possible in selecting the scientists to best amplify the schools' research.

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E-mail: estewart@desnews.com