Research park continues growth

Iowa City Press-Citizen

The University of Iowa Oakdale Research Park is abuzz with activity right now, officials said, and only some of the changes have to do with brick and steel.

At a glance, it's easy to see the number of building projects that are in different phases of completion, said Tom Bauer, associate director of the Oakdale Research Park.

The larger ones include a new LMS North America building to be done in August and the new UI Hygienic Lab and Bioventures Center that will be complete in fall or spring of the next school year. Smaller UI building projects in design or construction phases include a new data center, hazardous waste management facility and library storage facility, Bauer said.

Officials also are working to develop a new sign concept for the park, to make it easier to navigate.

"It's just a whole revamping of the area," he said.

Even bigger things are happening behind the scenes, said Tom Sharpe, UI associate vice president for research.

Sharpe said officials are developing a new master plan and marketing plan for Oakdale, which has had more than 100 tenants in its incubator and 20 in its park since it opened in 1984.

The new master plan will change the entire way the park translates research into business, Sharpe said.

For years, Oakdale Boulevard has served as a divider between academic research and commercial components of the 189-acre park north of Interstate 80 in Coralville. The research campus is to the south, the park is to the north, he said.

A biotechnology company, Optherion, will open in Oakdale this fall. The company will share a building with Dr. Gregory Hageman, the researcher whose discoveries launched it.

Sharpe said it is the first time the research park will have an academic research lab and spin-off company share a building. This requires detailed oversight plans to avoid conflicts of interest, he said, but it's worth it.

"It's in the public's interest to move their innovations into the market," he said.

UI President Sally Mason said while she was provost at Purdue University, officials investigated a similar model of co-locating academic and commercial enterprises for its research park. She said they traveled to Australia to look at a few universities that have successfully combined the two.

"It's fascinating what Australians have done," she said.

Mason said universities are correct in their concerns over conflict of interest, but the lead investigator or researcher typically is not the CEO of the spin-off company. Colin Foster, the former CEO of Bayer Pharmaceuticals in the United States, will lead Optherion.

"You have very careful management plans you work out with people," she said.

In an annual economic development report submitted to the Iowa state Board of Regents, UI officials said universities all over the country are being asked to play a larger role in economic development in their states.

Successful university research parks have laboratory-based incubators and business support groups for start-up companies, the report said. Additionally, it is becoming increasingly common for universities to provide space for companies that have "graduated" from their incubators.

"When we can channel that innovation into a start-up company in Iowa, then we can capture that financial benefit in Iowa," Sharpe said.

Sharpe said the university wants to address both areas. He said some accounting, legal and marketing services are offered to Oakdale start-ups, but those could be expanded.

Also, to better manage physical space, Sharpe said the University of Iowa Research Park Corporation will have a larger stake in building management, acting somewhat like a real estate management company.

The corporation already helps tenants find developers, builders, financial sources and financial incentives, but having a bigger hand in building management will streamline operations, he said.

Sharpe said a marketing research study conducted last fall will help leaders identify other specific areas to emphasize and fix. Although a task force eventually will decide on specific recommendations, Sharpe said the study pointed out that the park eventually will need to upgrade or renovate a number of older buildings that are old and inefficient.

"They don't provide an image that is consistent with a modern, high-tech place," he said.

On the positive side, the study said the university enjoys a working relationship with the city of Coralville that a lot of other research parks lack. Sharpe said the city has offered financial incentives to new companies, and its administrator, Kelly Hayworth, sits on the Oakdale Research Park Corporation's board of directors.

"It's a genuine collaboration," he said.