Banking on intellectual capital: its wealth of smarts--one reason hard times aren't as tough on the Triangle--will keep the region competitive.

• Position: COVER STORY - Interview

BNC: How is the life-sciences sector holding up?

Walden: We haven't had the bloodbath that we had during the 2001 recession. People are cautiously optimistic about the future of life sciences and high-tech. We have too much going for us to think that we are going to backslide much. That is not to say that we won't have some companies move out or downsize. But there has been a subtle shift in how people position this region. Clearly technology and biotechnology will continue to be important, but we have been able to attract some major financial-firm investments, with more likely to come.

What's the significance?

We're maturing into a settled metropolitan area that is going to derive more of its income from serving as a regional focus for retail and service activities. Meanwhile, in the Charlotte region, I detect a major shift from financial services into technology with the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis. When you think of North Carolina, you think of the Charlotte region and Research Triangle Park. Each is in some sense infringing upon the economic base of the other. That's natural because both understand the importance of having a more diversified base.

How will the emergence of other research campuses affect the region?

We aren't going to see anything that will replace the dominance of RTF, at least not in North Carolina. Even in the nation, it is hard to duplicate it, other than Boston or Silicon Valley. One way to stimulate economic development in the state, particularly in areas that have been lagging, is to marry economic-development activities with a research component tied to a campus of the university system. But that's more collaborative with RTF than competitive.

The region's high-tech sector seems to have held up well.

Investors and companies were much more cautious about expansion after 2001, so we haven't seen that kind of debacle here in terms of job loss. On the other hand, the sector is changing. It is becoming a mature tech sector--one of research, development, innovation and service rather than manufacturing. That is the long-term trend.

How would you evaluate the Triangle's financial sector?

It makes eminent sense that financial services will expand because the Triangle is still looked upon as one of the top metros for growth. With the expectation that this is going to be a long recovery--taking two, three or more years--national companies will want to find the growth markets. The Triangle will stand out...