Innovation czar candidate to meet with Tech Park board

A finalist to head the planned Regional Innovation Organization will meet Thursday with the executive committee of the Research Park Corporation, which runs the Louisiana Technology Park on Florida Boulevard. The Baton Rouge Area Chamber, which is leading the project, is withholding the candidate’s identity until the 4 p.m. meeting at the Tech Park. While the meeting’s agenda includes “consideration and vote on candidate,” the board may not hold a final vote Thursday. The new organization’s goal would be to support growth-oriented companies and promote a culture of entrepreneurship; its early tasks would include developing coordinated admission standards for Baton Rouge’s top business incubators and ensuring those incubators adopt a common reporting system to track graduates. BRAC has said the director’s salary likely would be in the $150,000 to $200,000 range. The Research Park Corporation will be asked to provide money to support the organization over the next five years. —David Jacobs