Matt Carter, chair of OMIC R&D’s board of governors and technical fellow in Boeing Research and Technology said, “We’re pleased to welcome Craig as OMIC R&D’s inaugural executive director and are excited about what his strong background working in government relations and legal affairs can bring to this new organization. With a diverse core of manufacturing and higher education members, new machinery available for our researchers, and a committed group of partners, Craig will help move OMIC from startup phase to full operations.”
Craig Campbell has served as president and legal counsel of The Victory Group for twenty years, a family owned and operated lobbying firm in Salem, Oregon that provides association management and government and public relations services to its clients. As one of the managing partners, he is responsible for the day-to-day operations, including legal compliance and contracts, client relations, financial oversight and business planning. Prior to this work, Campbell was a senior policy advisor, and State Homeland Security advisor in the Office of the Governor of Oregon from 2003 to 2006. Here he interfaced between Governor Ted Kulongoski and the state’s public safety, corrections, veterans, and military agencies. From 1994 to 1996, he was special assistant attorney general, coordinating the Governor’s Juvenile Crime Prevention Task Force. Campbell served as chief of staff and legal counsel in the Office of the Speaker of the House between 1992 and 1994; and from 1990 to 1992 as a law clerk at Hoyt and Associates and for the Lane County Circuit Court.
“As the first Boeing initiated manufacturing R&D Center in the U.S., OMIC R&D presents an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate the growth of manufacturing research in Oregon, the region and beyond,” said Campbell. “I am very excited to have the opportunity to work with such impressive representatives of industry, government and higher education to create a manufacturing research powerhouse to meet the cutting-edge needs of our industry partners while at the same time creating a greatly needed local workforce to fill the numerous jobs that OMIC R&D’s work will help create.”
OMIC R&D focuses research on helping manufacturing industries increase competitiveness while creating partnerships with and integration into the local economy. As research activities expand with high-cost, high-value machinery added on to the production floor, OMIC R&D is expected to increase state and regional commercial productivity in manufacturing and stimulate economic growth and development. As the fifteenth such research center established with Boeing leadership worldwide, OMIC R&D is the first Boeing has sponsored in the United States. Its mission is to bring together manufacturing companies and higher education in an innovation environment where “outside-in” applied research with faculty and university students solves real problems for advanced manufacturers while training the next generation of engineers and technologists.
Dr. Nagi Naganathan, president of the Oregon Institute of Technology (“Oregon Tech”) which serves as the host for OMIC R&D said, “Craig’s relationships with the legislature, his legal foundation and his experience with other agencies and associations will serve OMIC well as we continue to develop mutually beneficial relationships. We look forward to working with Craig to advance the mission of this innovative enterprise.”
OMIC R&D industry and higher education members currently include seventeen industry and university members in the Scappoose facility: ATI; Blount International; Boeing; CG Tech; Daimler Trucks North America; Hangsterfer’s Laboratories, Inc.; Kennametal; Mitsubishi Materials Corporation; OSG USA, Inc; Silver Eagle Manufacturing; Summit; Vigor; Walter Tools; and WFL Millturn Technologies and Oregon Institute of Technology which is also landlord and operations administration for OMIC R&D; Oregon State University (OSU); and Portland State University (PSU).
Campbell has been an active board member and volunteer in several organizations over his career, including vice-chair of the board of Healthy Democracy; president of the Oregon Transportation Forum; Chair of the Oregon Homeland Security Council’s Committee on Public Private Partnerships; Keiser City Council; a senior fellow at the American Leadership Forum; and many others. Campbell received a Doctorate of Jurisprudence from University of Oregon School of Law; an M.A. in Military Studies from American Military University; and a B.S. in Political Science from UO.
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About the Oregon Manufacturing Innovation Center
OMIC is a world-class collaborative environment bringing together industry, higher education and government in partnership to develop new tools, techniques and technologies to address near-term manufacturing challenges through applied research and advanced technical training. OMIC is modeled after the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Center (AMRC) in partnership with Boeing in Sheffield, England. The collaborative partnership is located in Scappoose, Oregon in a facility owned and administered by the Oregon Institute of Technology (Oregon Tech). Beginning on May 1, find more information at www.OMIC.us
