‘Cutting edge’ is the name of the game at WSU Extension Center

In today’s uncertain economy, one thing is becoming increasingly clear. New knowledge and emerging technologies will be key to our recovery in Washington State and beyond.

As the state’s land-grant university, Washington State University is a leader in the “new knowledge” business; we also have the expressed responsibility to disseminate our discoveries in cutting-edge science and technology in communities across the state.

I am proud to be the president of WSU for many reasons. One of the most rewarding parts of the job is being able to travel anywhere in our great state and see the real impact of our university on the daily lives and long-term prosperity of its residents.

When I visited southwestern Washington as part of my 39-county tour, I witnessed that impact firsthand. Researchers at WSU’s Puyallup Research and Extension Center are working side-by-side with business owners, industry leaders, state and local government agencies and families to help them address real-world challenges.

Initially created to assist what was once one of the state’s premier agricultural areas, WSU Puyallup has evolved to remain relevant to its increasingly urban setting and stakeholders. That emerging mission continues to provide science-based solutions to issues with local, state and regional impact.

Water quality, for example, is key to the future health of Puget Sound and the waterways that feed it. WSU Puyallup is home to the newly created Washington Stormwater Center, a joint program of WSU and the University of Washington Tacoma Urban Waters Center, co-led by WSU Professor John Stark, an ecotoxicologist and director of WSU Puyallup.

As new stormwater regulations have developed over the past year, businesses and industries in the Puget Sound regions are now required to create effective stormwater management programs for their job sites. Working with funding from The Boeing Company’s Global Corporate Citizenship Northwest organization, the center will help to fund a variety of activities and materials developed by Stark and his team to help educate business stormwater permit holders so they can meet federal environmental standards.

Low-impact development goes hand-in-hand with supporting clean water in the area, and WSU Puyallup is home to a national leader in the details of low-impact development. Curtis Hinman, a watershed ecologist and WSU Extension educator, leads the WSU LID Center, a project that included transforming many parts of the WSU Puyallup location to reflect different kinds of surface materials. Observing how stormwater moves through rain gardens, porous pavement parking areas and other surfaces gives researchers invaluable insights into how to keep stormwater from ending up in the Sound.

Another dimension of WSU Puyallup is the role WSU Extension educators there play in supporting the large number of military families in the state. WSU’s 4-H Youth Development Program was one of the inaugural partners in the U.S. Operation: Military Kids initiative and continues to develop and provide programming for the children of our deployed military servicemen and women. It is an honor for WSU to serve in this way.

In addition to its role as a key partner in these critical areas, WSU Puyallup is a substantial economic driver in its own right. In 2011, the center employed a total of 112 faculty and staff, and WSU expended a total of $12 million on payroll, operating costs and capital improvements.

The majority of these funds come from competitive grants from federal and state governments as well as business and industry.

A rigorous economic impact analysis indicates that this activity translates to an additional $4.7 million of economic impact on the local economy.

Collaboration lies at the heart of all of these successes. Our ability to deliver on the land-grant promise depends on our ability to find enthusiastic partners in communities around the state. I am pleased to say those partnerships are flourishing here in southwestern Washington.

Elson S. Floyd is the president of Washington State University.