Two hundred million dollars in grants has been brought-in by the state’s universities this year. The Georgia Research Alliance says 60 leading researchers have been attracted to the state through the "eminent scholars" program. That program is part of a plan to improve Georgia’s economy by hiring researchers whose innovation spurs new high tech companies. The Alliance says more than 16-hundred jobs have been created as a result of researchers' connections to related faculty, technicians and other workers. Since the establishment of the "eminent scholars" program in 1992, 17 scholars have founded more than 35 new Georgia companies in high-tech, high-wage areas.
