National Coastal Resources Research and Development Institute

Mission: To foster sustainable and environmentally responsible economic growth and prosperity inthe coastal United States by engaging partnerships that move research and technology into action. The economic well-being of America's communities along the 95,000 miles of the Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, and Great Lakes coasts and the competitiveness of coastal industries is vital to our national growth and prosperity. The National Coastal Resources Research and Development Institute (NCRI), established by federal legislation in 1984, is committed to national goals for sustainable economic security and stability and a rising standard of living by working with coastal communities and businesses as a:

• Development-oriented program that translates scientific and technological advances into environmentally responsible-economic gain to improve the coastal condition.
• Catalyst for scientific entrepreneurship and technology transfer that continually spurs innovation and enhances the competitiveness of coastal industries, particularly small companies less able to support research and development.
• Source of knowledge that demonstrates how information enables coastal communities and businesses to solve problems themselves.
• Coastal "identifier," which continually updates and describes the condition of the coastal economy.

Goals:

It is NCRI's responsibility to improve the coastal economic condition by engaging partnerships to shape opportunities, remove economic constraints, obstacles, and barriers, and enhance the competitiveness of coastal industries, through the application, evaluation, and demonstration of applied research and research-based technology.

NCRI targets researchers who are working cooperatively with industry and community leaders to:

• Develop new products that enhance the economy of coastal regions, reduce costs of development of coastal products, improve product safety, and develop markets for products.
• Accelerate adoption and commercialization of scientific and technological innovations.
• Maximize the economic development prospects of a region within the general wishes of the people who live there, insisting upon the environmental soundness of the economic advancement.
• Create conditions for a region to attract services and financial capital for infrastructure improvements.
• Educate and assist local leaders in coastal regions make wiser choices/decisions with regard to the developments which are going to occur in their regions from external impetus and control the development.
• Build a nurturing environment for entrepreneurship.

NCRI is committed to using its resources in support of those efforts that will have the greatest positive impact on the future economic and public well-being of coastal communities. NCRI views itself as a catalyst of activities and emphasizes the application, evaluation (technical and economical), and transfer of new, research-based information and technology in community- and commercial-scale demonstration projects.

NCRI's Board of Governors solicits and awards grants on a competitive basis. An Advisory Council consisting of ocean and coastal resource specialists from all coastal regions of the country assists the Board in the annual selection of projects. In its analysis of proposals, the NCRI Board of Governors must ask:

Will the project make a difference? Will the work have a positive effect on the targeted industry or community and will the development or improvement of the industry benefit the regional or national coastal economy?

Ultimately, the Board of Governors must consider the potential public return of each investment. Therefore, each proposal is judged on its capability to achieve economic outcomes fundamental to NCRI' 5 mission:

• Expanded employment.
• Increased economic and job stability.
• Decreased environmental and production costs.
• Income improvement.
• Enhanced regenerative capacity (i.e., sustainable development).
• Increased independence and self-determination (i.e., local initiation and control).

FISCAL YEAR 1996 PRIORITIES

Aquaculture and Fisheries

Coastal Business/Community Development and Coastal Tourism and Recreation

Environmental/Marine Technology and Product Development

Seafood Production

For more information, contact:

NCRI
P.O. Box 751
Portland, Oregon 97207

or

528 S.W. Mill Street
Suite 220
Portland, Oregon 97201
Phone: (503) 725-5725
FAX: (503) 725-5732

8/25/95