Timothy Franklin, COO A uniquely American answer to regional innovation

416 The 329 Building activities going on around the world

Pennsylvania State University
State College, PA 16802
O: 814-863-9789
tvf2@psu.edu

Building National Competitiveness
Through Regional Development
TRE Networks is designing and building
a national delivery system that drives the
21st century American innovation economy.
Enlisting our country’s best minds in
government, education, private, and non-
profit sectors, TRE Networks’ goal is the
realization of prosperous regions across
the United States that possess innovative
businesses, creative hot spots, and
dynamic clusters.
TRE Networks has two program areas: TRE Roundtable and TRE Practice.
TRE Roundtable incorporates partner institutions that provide thought
leadership in TRE:
Current TRE Board
Founding TRE Core Providers
Partners
Starting in 2008, TRE Roundtable has provided a forum for dialogue and
thought leadership among the leaders in TRE today through annual meetings
and policy forums.
TRE Practice offers a comprehensive portfolio of solutions to regions
engaged in innovation-based economic development.  Through customized
workshops, tools, and services, TRE Practice connects the enormous
knowledge and innovation assets inside universities to regions across the
country.  Effort is focused on creating dense interactions to build out the
essential dimensions of the regional economic system:  Brainpower Talent,
Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and Quality Connected Places.  Rather than
stopping at single solutions for specific regions, TRE Practice organizes best-
in-class regional development solutions that can be customized for any region.
TRE Networks partners with anchor institutions (universities and colleges)
who work directly within the region to guide competiveness strategies.  The
broad national partnerships and products and services portfolio of TRE
Practice fills gaps in local assets.
Leveraging University Assets
for Regional Transformation
TRE Networks is a national network
organization that draws from universities
and other providers to systematically
provide strategies, tools, and services
across regions to drive economic
prosperity. TRE Networks is a non-profit
501(c)3 founded in September 2010 with
a board including Pennsylvania State
University, Purdue University, University of
Akron, Manufacturing Institute and RUPRI.
Delivering solutions as one-to-many, and many-to-one, the TRE
Networks system is:
national. To be competitive, the 21st century American economy is
dependent on regions strengthening and growing vibrant clusters.
Good practices should be aggressively shared across regions to
yield national competitiveness
accelerated. All regions have capacity to transform. Accelerating
the transformation is accomplished through processes that rapidly
and powerfully build civic collaboration and narratives & networks.
synergistic. Regions on a journey need fuel – lots of it. New ideas,
strategic assistance, and programs to fill gaps in regional capacity
provide the means to get there. Universities are a significant source
for these capabilities.
customized. Regions come in lots of different flavors, and can
be characterized by their urban or rural character, their particular
personality, or their economic focus. Any solutions being pulled into
the region from outside need to be customized.

TRE’s National Network Builds
Regional Prosperity
TRE Networks system that takes best-in-
class regional transformation programs
and systematically restructures them
to be delivered to any other region that
needs to build innovation capacity. Each
region is unique in its needs, and so
programs are customized for individual
delivery. The TRE Networks portfolio
offers products and services to support
regional development needs in five key
areas: Civic Collaboration, New Narratives
& Networks, Brainpower & Talent,
Innovation & Entrepreneurship, and
Quality Connected Places.
Ignite regional transformation.
TRE Networks and regional
leaders from government,
education, non-profit and
private sectors engage and focus
strategically through Civic Collaboration.
Organize regional transformation.
TRE Networks leads the regional
transformation process in waves:
Analyze & Legitimize, Convene & Align,
Customize & Deliver.
Accelerate regional transformation. TRE Networks and local stakeholders
craft New Narratives & Networks to propel the process forward.
Grow conditions for regional transformation. TRE Networks aims to
mature Brainpower/Talent, Innovation & Entrepreneurship, and Quality
Connected Places—the essential structures required for regional prosperity.
Critically, TRE connects and maximizes interactions between players who
can translate education into workforce, new knowledge into markets, and
‘place’ into vibrant hub.
Deliver tools for regional transformation. Through its national networks,
TRE Networks creates customized strategies, products and services
that strengthen regions and builds a national portfolio of tools including
workshops, consulting services, programs, and policy change.
Realize Regional Prosperity. The goal of TRE Networks is to transform
regions into diverse, integrated, and resilient economic systems expressed
through Creative Hot Spots, Innovative Businesses, and Dynamic Clusters.