The Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce has the right idea. In a white paper that the chamber published this week, the business leadership calls for a major increase in research funding at the state's research universities.

The paper promotes a funding plan of $400 million over five years. You can read more here, or download a copy of the white paper. The economic transformation of Northeast Ohio will be driven in part by expanded investments in university -- based research.

Luis Proenza, president of The University of Akron, has provided us with some excellent background on the role of colleges and universities in our economic transformation. You can read through some of his speeches and presentations on his web site here.

In particular, his comments in front of the Pogue Commission provide us important background and context. You can read his comments here. I also like his statement that he made to the Cleveland City Club on the role of higher education in economic development.