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In the 1950s, the state's best college graduates
were leaving North Carolina to find employment.
This alarmed a group of public and private leaders, including
Greensboro businessman Romeo Guest, Durham's George Watts Hill,
and Robert Hanes, from Wachovia Bank and Trust Company,
along with Governor Luther Hodges, and presidents and key faculty
of the state's three major universities: NC State,
Duke, and UNC-Chapel Hill.
Together, they began promoting a research park
among the scrub pines and fallow farmland
in the "triangle" between the three big universities.
Research Triangle Park would diversify the state's economy
by attracting "New Line" industries
involved in research and development
that required high skills and paid high wages.
After investors rejected the group's initial idea
of a privately owned for-profit real estate venture,
Archie Davis of Wachovia Bank argued for a new approach,
pitching RTP as an investment in the public interest.
A new non-profit was created:
the Research Triangle Park Foundation.
Under Davis's guidance, the response was immediate:
businesses and individuals from across the state
donated nearly $1.5 million in a few short months.
The Foundation soon controlled an initial 4,000 acres
of largely undeveloped land.
Recruitment of tenants proceeded more slowly.
Success was not secure until 1965, when IBM and a federal agency
moved in. They were followed by a wave
of New Line industries, which flourished.
Over the next 50 years, RTP became home
to other internationally known businesses,
such as GlaxoSmithKline, and major facilities,
such as the National Humanities Center, and an expansive campus
for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Even with one of the largest and most successful research centers
in the world, today's park leaders are looking to the future -- seeking
new ways to meet the changing needs
of North Carolina's businesses and its economy.
Research Triangle Park's model proves that success can come
from seeing opportunities in change,
leveraging and developing local assets,
and demonstrating committed, flexible, and patient leadership
in the public and private sectors.