A bill to create innovation centers at the state’s three research universities is being touted as the next step in creating a knowledge-based economy in South Carolina.

The centers would help move cutting-edge research from campus labs into the marketplace. That would help drive economic development in the state, proponents say.

The legislation was introduced last week by Rep. Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, considered by some a champion of the new economy in South Carolina.

The centers would be set up under a new division of the S.C. Research Authority. They would more closely link the agency with the research universities, something Harrell said is needed.

The idea for the innovation centers came out of the Palmetto Institute. The 18-month effort was chaired by Larry Wilson, the well-known Columbia entrepreneur turned venture capitalist.

Wilson said the institute found that while universities are very good at teaching and research, “They are not necessarily good judges of what the market will want to buy and how to put that research into position to ultimately create a profitable business.”

The centers are designed to connect university research with private industry. One center would be located on the campus of Clemson’s International Center for Automotive Research. One would be on USC’s research campus, and the third, at MUSC in Charleston. Each would be regional in nature, Wilson said.

The centers would have aspects of traditional business incubators, such as providing startup companies with space, wet labs and prototype production facilities. But they would be more like business accelerators, said Harris Pastides, USC’s vice president for research.

Unlike incubators, the centers would have industry recruiters who would go into the university labs, determine what technologies might have market value and then find companies to pair with the researchers.

“My guess is that 75 to 80 percent of the participants in the innovation centers will be existing companies developing new products,” Wilson said.

The centers would share a common staff of experts in areas like market research, intellectual property, finance and business, Wilson said.

Each center would have a director, who would report to the executive director of the S.C. Research Authority.

The centers would be funded by $12 million from the research authority for the first three years.

The proposed legislation also restructures the research authority, the subject of recent controversy.

Harrell chairs the House Ways and Mean Committee, which has asked for a legislative audit of the authority because of concern about the agency’s spending.

The authority has been working with Harrell on the legislation, said Jennie Johnson, chairwoman of the authority’s board of trustees.

“We agree with the concept and see it as a real means to move South Carolina forward, but we are still studying all the details,” she said.

The research authority would have two divisions, the S.C. Research Division and S.C. Research Innovation Centers, both overseen by the authority’s executive director.

The legislation would create an executive committee of the authority’s board of trustees comprising the presidents of USC, Clemson and MUSC, along with the governor or his designee.

The committee would implement recommendations and guide the executive director, who would be chosen by the board of trustees.

That is one of the things the authority is studying, Johnson said. The authority also has been actively participating in the discussions on the funding, she said.

The bill would slightly alter the composition of the board of trustees.

But, Johnson said, “The really important thing is to focus on the overall concept, which is the innovation centers and the partnership between the authority and the research universities.”