The following overview is a synopsis of selected recent announcements from research parks across the nation, including new tenants, groundbreakings and tools for financing start-up companies.
The chemical company BASF announced in January a $1 million contribution to the Brazosport College Foundation for construction of a new process technology center at the school’s planned Science Technology Corridor. The new facility will include analytical labs and classrooms for curriculum supporting the petrochemical, energy and nuclear energy. The BASF center groundbreaking is expected this summer as the first phase of the Science Technology Corridor, which will also include a health professions and science technology complex with laboratories, classrooms and department offices for health professions programs.
Tuesday marked the groundbreaking ceremony for the Bio-Research and Development Growth Park at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in Missouri, a $36.1 million, 118-square-foot multi-tenant research park that will house start-up life sciences companies. The buildings located within the research park will house wet laboratory and office space and will provide companies with direct access to the intellectual capital of Danforth Center scientists, according to a news release. The project is slated for completion in March 2009, according to an article in the St. Louis Business Journal.
Mann Research Center is planning to develop a six-building life sciences complex at the Florida Center for Innovation at Tradition in St. Lucie. Preliminary plans call for a mixture of medical office, R&D, corporate office, and support retail space, according to the South Florida Business Journal. The innovation center is a 120-acre research park set to open in 2009.
Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue announced that the state is pursuing the creation of a research park on a 115-acre parcel of the Fort McPherson property, which is being closed under the federal government’s Base Realignment and Closure Act. The science and technology research park would be located in close proximity to universities and research institutions. The state is currently awaiting approval from the Army.
A bill introduced in the Hawaii Legislature calls for the creation of a high technology park on the island of Oahu to be managed by the Hawaii High Tech Development Corporation. The purpose of the technology park is to support Hawaii’s technology and defense-related industries, which are expected to grow significantly in the coming years with an estimated 176,000 vacant jobs by 2012, 51,000 of which are expected to be newly created positions.
Technology start-ups in Louisiana could get a boost in working capital from the Louisiana Technology Park and the state’s economic development department. The research park’s executive committee recommended last month that the board of the Research Park Corporation, the nonprofit organization that operates the tech park, establish a business and industrial development corporation (BIDCO) to provide short term loans to technology companies, The Advocate reports. The BIDCO would use $1 million in research park funds matched with $1 million in state funds from the Louisiana Economic Development Corporation to finance the loans, with a return of 16-25 percent, according to the article.
Louisiana Tech University selected a designer last month to begin the planning phase for a $25 million research park. Half of the funding for the park, dubbed Research Campus, was approved during the 2007 legislative session within the supplemental appropriations bill, and the other half is a line of credit from the state bond commission. The park will target companies in cyberspace protection, nanotechnology, biomedical engineering, and micromanufacturing.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) unveiled a model of the proposed Nebraska Innovation Park, modeled after the Centennial Campus at the University of North Carolina. The university wants to build the research park on land currently occupied by the Nebraska State Fair. The proposed research model would link the UNL-City and UNL-East campuses and includes public and private technology development space to encourage entrepreneurs to work with UNL research faculty, according to a UNL press release.
Construction began last month on a 1.1 million-square-foot multi-tenant high tech research park located at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey. The park will feature laboratories and office space for high tech, defense and academic tenants.
Last month, EDS, a global technology services company, announced plans to locate a national software solution center within the Purdue Research Park. EDS will occupy 45,000 sq. ft. of a new 78,000-square-foot Innovation Center slated to open in 2009. The company plans to create 200 software engineer and business analyst positions by 2010. The Indiana Economic Development Corporation and the city of West Lafayette played a critical role in recruiting the company, offering $300,000 in training grants and another $1.5 million in additional incentives.
A new €300 million science park at Emersons Green in Bristol is in the final stages of planning. The SPark is a 70,000-square-foot innovation center that will act as a hub for developing and supporting young science-based companies, according to South West England Regional Development Agency. The 10-year project, which will provide dedicated space for science and technology companies in southwest England, is expected to create around 6,000 new jobs.
Using up to $60 million in funds from a federal omnibus bill, the University of Mississippi announced it will spend $7.3 million to begin construction on the Mississippi Biotechnology Research Park, reports The Clairon-Leger. The first building, which is slated for completion in three to four years, will house laboratory and office space for biotechnology companies. Mississippi State will receive another $7.3 million to expand its Thad Cochran Research, Technology and Development Park with a 30,000-square-foot building, according to the article.