When New York's leaders realized their state was continually creating great technologies but then losing the resulting manufacturing jobs, they set out to create an innovative world-class technology park that would attract semiconductor manufacturers and leading nanotech corporations.

A groundbreaking project of this magnitude required a special kind of leadership – one that could pull together the local and state agencies, contractors, utilities and economic development organizations required to develop the necessary infrastructure. They turned to Michael Relyea, CEO and President of Luther Forest Technology Campus Economic Development Corporation.

"When I came to Luther Forest, I knew we had the chance to develop a site that would be a once-in-a-lifetime high-tech opportunity for our region," Relyea said. "Semiconductor facilities bring lots of jobs, but they also require an enormous amount of infrastructure. And in turn, infrastructure projects require teamwork and collaboration. Our team has already walked through the regulatory process, the planning process, the construction process, and now we are moving through the final operating phase as the semiconductor fab comes online."

Relyea believes that public-private partnerships like the one he facilitated with the New York tech campus will be a crucial factor in infrastructure development projects around the world.  “As we transition to a global high-tech economy, infrastructure—roads, power, sewers, water—is a key enabler for economic growth. Mature economies need to refurbish their infrastructures, emerging economies need expanded infrastructures and developing countries must create entirely new infrastructure systems.” Relyea believes that traditional infrastructure development approaches are not the best solution for the future; regions that adopt new development models will be most successful. 

Public-private partnerships are such a new approach advocated by Relyea. These partnerships combine the power of the government with the expertise of the private sector, making it possible to move projects along quickly and with much less red tape. Another advantage is that investment costs and risks are shared between both the government and the private companies involved, ensuring that all parties are committed to a timely and successful outcome.

The Luther Forest Technology Campus team excels at managing this public-private partnership because Relyea believes in fostering a culture of consensus and creativity. "I’ve been successful because I encourage my teams to look at difficult situations differently and find innovative solutions," he said. "I never focus on only partner perspective – we look at the problem from everyone’s perspective and work together to find best answer. This focus on the best solution brings out the creativity of everyone involved. Then trust the outcome and let people do their jobs."

Relyea likens his approach to the university model where researchers are encouraged to take risks and failed attempts are tolerated more than they are usually tolerated in the private sector. "When you succeed, you've solved one problem," he explained. "But when we encourage risk taking, and sometimes fail, you can unlock the door to an endless number of opportunities and can now look at the future in a different way.” With every project he’s been involved with, Relyea has encouraged the project team to adopt the shared research, learning and responsibility model that often happens in a university setting.

Luther Forest Technology exemplifies the potential of this model with their proven ability to bring multiple players –  even those in direct competition with each other – together to work toward solutions that benefits everyone involved while always keeping the end goal of the larger project in sight.

For more information, please visit: www.lutherforest.org