NLPI’s founding partners were selected and cultivated according to their contribution to the goals of the project.

Northwestern State University (NSU), as lead institution for NLPI, will serve as fiscal agent and will provide leadership, coordination, and management

Consortium for Education, Research and Technology of North Louisiana (CERT), an established partnership of all eleven higher and continuing education institutions in North Louisiana and the Biomedical Research Foundation, will ensure broad participation among academic institutions and provide educational and research resources

Louisiana Department of Economic Development (LDED), the state agency charged with implementing Vision 2020, the state’s technology cluster-based economic development master plan, will provide direction regarding technology cluster needs, guidance on intellectual property and technology transfer issues, and training and evaluation expertise

Louisiana Board of Regents (BoR), the body charged with providing insight and resources to implement Vision 2020, will provide oversight, training expertise and coordination with other state higher education workforce development and technology transfer initiatives
Shreveport Chamber of Commerce with its Science and Technology Council and the Natchitoches Economic Development Commission will provide access to existing and start-up technology businesses and will facilitate interaction with chambers of commerce and their members throughout CERT’s 22-parish region

The Biomedical Research Foundation’s InterTech Science Park, created to stimulate and attract technology-based industries through its laboratories and science incubators, will provide direct and immediate access to start-up and small businesses and provide ample opportunities for workforce development and technology transfer activities

Red River Pharma and SteriFx, Inc., located in InterTech Science Park, will provide expertise as life sciences/biomedical & biotechnology cluster companies that actively utilize CERT’s workforce and research resources

Softdisk, Inc., Praeses Corporation, Enterprise Computing Services, LLC., and Synapse Multimedia, LLP. are information technology (IT) companies that have partnered with CERT institutions in developing curricula and will provide industry expertise and guidance regarding IT workforce and research needs, as well as assistance in developing NLPI’s web-based resources.