Business community supports UC
Woolas Hsieh chose to locate his solar energy startup in Los Angeles for two reasons: the region's friendliness to Pacific Rim businesses and the proximity to UCLA.
"I see the value of the University of California system from my viewpoint as a businessman," said Hsieh, president and founder of Solarmer Energy Inc. "Because UC produces so many patents, it becomes a source of new technologies that people like us in the business world look for."
On April 30, Hsieh was one of six UCLA-affiliated business leaders who met with key state legislators to reinforce the importance of UC to the state's economy. Their visit to Sacramento was part of an ongoing advocacy effort to ensure the state continues its investment in higher education.
Solarmer licenses technology developed at the UCLA branch of the California NanoSystems Institute. Researchers there have developed a plastic solar cell that opens the way to produce the next generation of low-cost, easy-to-produce solar energy. The next generation of renewable energy development will become as important an economic boon to California as the computer industry has been, Hsieh believes. UC's intellectual property, he said, is one of the driving forces behind entrepreneurial companies like his.
"That's why it's so important to ensure that such a great education system is funded," Hsieh said.
Other corporate leaders who participated in the corporate advocacy included Mary Leslie, president of the Los Angeles Business Council and consulting firm Leslie and Associates; Richard Ziman, chairman of American Value Partners Advisors; David I. Fisher, chairman of Capital Guardian Trust Co.; Richard Bergman, CEO of business management services company Bergman Group Inc.; and Gary Toebben, president and CEO of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce.
"The strength of the California economy is in large part due to the quality of its higher education," said Toebben. "Our universities retain their top students in California and attract the outstanding students from around the world. Many of them stay in California. They are major contributors to our businesses, and they are often entrepreneurs who start up new businesses."
Economic impact studies have estimated that for every $1 the state invests in a student's UC education California receives $3 back in net return.