Something huge “happened” in South Carolina in the early 1960s, something that had tremendous impact on the state as a whole and on the Upstate in particular — the construction of I-85. The interstate highway created a dynamic connection from Atlanta, Ga., to Charlotte, N.C., with Clemson University in between.

It’s only logical — and logistical — that Clemson, a state educational, research and outreach institution, would become a driving force in the state’s economy. The I-85 corridor opened up economic and research opportunities for the entire Upstate like never before and, in the process, educational opportunities for its students. Clemson gained a faster, more direct avenue for improving the lives of South Carolinians. And just as the interstate is constantly being widened and strengthened, so is the influence of the University.

Of course it takes more than an interstate to create jobs. For one thing, it takes successful, applicable research. Clemson research generated more than $100 million this past year — that’s money coming in state mostly from federal grants and other national sources.

Clemson research addresses real-life problems — better knee replacements, earlier breast cancer detection, promising acne treatment, food safety, home construction improvements and much more. It also takes marketing. An added bonus of such research is that if often generates lucrative patents. Clemson has often been among the top 25 universities nationally in income earned from patents and intellectual properties.

The revenue from patents and licensing goes back into supporting more research at Clemson, better opportunities for students and improved quality of life for the people of South Carolina. It’s an energetic cycle, spinning off fresh benefits with each new turn.

“This level of intellectual reinvestment helps Clemson flourish and underscores its emergence as a national-caliber research university,” says Ed Page, director of technology transfer. “We’re not only developing leading-edge technologies, but we’re becoming increasingly successful at marketing them.”

Clemson research has also spun off 10 businesses; each, in turn, has a payroll of S.C. employees and pays taxes within the state. Most were developed with assistance of the Clemson University Research Foundation or Clemson Center for Applied Technology and are thriving in the Upstate.

For example, a Clemson patent for a unique way to keep plants healthy spun off a company expected to have a multimillion-dollar impact on the state’s economy.

An entire greenhouse full of plants can be shipped around the world in minimal packaging without spreading pests through a revolutionary technology developed by Clemson researchers Jeff Adelberg and Roy Young.

The system, patented as Acclimatron™, is a sealed device containing finger-sized transplants called CU-Starts™. They are free of diseases, pests and pesticides and are strong enough to be planted directly into the field or into containers for growing to salable size.

The trays, transplants and computerized greenhouse system are produced and marketed by Southern Sun Propagation Systems Inc.

“Innovative technology is the foundation for future economic growth,” says S.C. Commerce Secretary Charles S. Way Jr. “Southern Sun’s highly efficient process for plant propagation will serve as a springboard for creating new job opportunities in biotechnology.”

The research that developed this technology was made possible by the S.C. Agriculture and Forestry Research System at Clemson. Revenue from licensing returns to Clemson’s research endowment and goes toward more research, keeping the flow of invention alive.

Another seasoned spin-off is Equi-Tox®, a godsend for horse owners and breeders. Clemson scientist Dee Cross researched and patented the use of a medication to treat fescue toxicosis in horses so that mares can safely deliver normal foals and have normal milk production. The company is currently conducting studies and submitting data for US FDA New Animal Drug Status. Once approval is granted, expansion will include international marketing through patent protection and regulatory new animal drug approval in other countries.

Clemson bioengineering professor Shalaby W. Shalaby started Poly-Med Inc., a company to develop polymer products for health care. One product is an absorbable tissue adhesive that is presently geared for the veterinary market. A second product is an absorbable, antibiotic, controlled-release system that is in the final stages of evaluation in Europe for use in treating periodontitis. In the works are a number of other absorbable products including surgical sutures and a vascular device.

The company, begun seven years ago, now has 20 employees and is expected to move its headquarters to the Clemson Research Park in Anderson County and to double its work force. Shalaby also plans to hire another 50 employees for a second company to manufacture products invented by Poly-Med researchers.

Foxfire Technologies Corp., co-founded in 1987 by Jack Peck, computer science professor emeritus, develops, markets and installs software for manufacturing and distribution, including real-time manufacturing shop floor control and real-time warehouse management. Foxfire, with more than 35 employees, is based in Six Mile and has offices in Atlanta, Ga., and Hyderabad, India.

The success of these and similar companies also encourages related industry to build nearby.

Clemson’s Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technology (COMSET) was formed two years ago to become the focal point for South Carolina in research and technology commercialization of materials for photonic devices and applications.

COMSET is already bringing in more than $4 million in funding annually. The University is in the process of moving COMSET to the Clemson Research Park for a setting more attractive to fiber optics companies.

Clemson also announced a photonics alliance last summer with UNC-Charlotte and Western Carolina-Cullowhee to target basic research and develop manufacturing processes for new products.

The alliance will pave the way for next-generation optics that could cut Internet cost, double DVD storage capacity and lighten military aircraft. The triangle will make the Upstate and western North Carolina attractive to major industries that manufacture opto-electronic and photonic components. The alliance will give rise to smaller companies; Clemson and UNC-Charlotte have already spun off five photonics companies.

The University is working on other research partnerships and projects with major industry within the state and especially within the Upstate.

“Clemson is our MIT, Georgia Tech and N.C. State,” says Lawrence Campbell, senior project manager of economic development for Anderson County.

In many cases, the embryonic state of the research results requires a small company to focus on commercialization. Small companies (less than 500 employees) are the principal commercialization partners for university technologies nationwide. According to a survey from the national Association of University Technology Managers, across the country, there have been more than 3,000 new ventures spun-off from universities in the last 20 years.

“The role of the university as an engine of innovation leading to economic development is a very old concept, as old as the universities and our nation’s posture toward universities,” says Caron St. John, director of the Spiro Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at Clemson.

The Spiro Center helps student inventors and entrepreneurs with market analyses and business planning. In addition, it conducts a mentoring and counseling program for linking entrepreneurs with experienced business executives.

Clemson is also home to the Small Business Development Center, a consortium of four universities that operates a state office and 15 regional/area centers throughout the state. The center at Clemson, within the College of Business and Behavioral Science, has helped small and medium-sized businesses for nearly 25 years. It has four area offices and covers 11 counties.

Last year, in addition to providing 42 seminars and training programs, the Clemson center received more than 3,000 inquiries for basic information and consulted 655 new clients. These efforts resulted in nearly $12 million in capital formation and 257 jobs.

The Small Business Development Center’s statewide procurement program assisted 331 clients, who reported winning a total of 499 contract awards of more than $25 million. These contracts include the Department of Defense, other federal agencies and state agencies, city and county government entities as well as subcontracts with government prime contractors.

The state of South Carolina will spark even more high-tech innovation with its plan to use $30 million in lottery proceeds to fund endowed chairs in Centers of Economic Excellence at the state’s three research universities. The money would be used to hire top researchers and provide them with staff and equipment — essentially treating them as knowledge-based infrastructure needed to attract the high-tech, high-paying industries sorely needed in South Carolina.

“We have an obligation to find new technology and new industry for the state,” says Clemson President James F. Barker. “It’s a role that began for us as a land-grant institution and continues for us today.”

New companies create new jobs and new streams of income, and new income in turn supports further academic research and education, corporate growth and new tax income for the public sector.

“Economic development and a well-prepared work force have become critical issues in addressing the needs of our state,” says Chris Przirembel, Clemson’s vice president for research. “Clemson was founded to create a better way of life for the people of South Carolina. And although the needs of the people have changed with the times, Clemson’s vision of a better state through education, research and outreach still drives us today.”