Synergies help city take 1st in bioscience; Lenexa has landed 34 firms, but seldom uses special incentives.

PRA International is one of the 34 bioscience related companies in the city of Lenexa.

And you can bet on it coming up in city and county government meetings here as the local leaders devise financial incentives to attract the industry.

But Lenexa, which leads the state in bioscience development with more than 30 companies - some of which have been around for more than 20 years - isn't playing the game, so to speak.

"It's certainly an industry we'll pay close attention to," said Blake Schreck, director of the economic development for Lenexa. "But I don't think we'll do anything specific to attract the industry. We've proven that traditional economic development strategies and quality of life issues do work to bring these companies in."

The latest example of Lenexa's pull is the announcement from the England-based biotechnology company OncImmune Ltd. that its new North American Headquarters and commercial lab will be located in Lenexa.

OncImmune has done significant work in the arena of breast cancer detection.

The company cited talented cancer researchers at the University of Kansas in Lawrence and at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan., as a draw to the area. Also, the Kansas Bioscience Authority committed to giving $2.5 million in incentives to bring the company to the state.

But OncImmune chose Lenexa because of the support available from IBT Reference Laboratory, a Lenexa lab that provides research and testing services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

Lenexa has not offered financial incentives to OncImmune.

In fact, financial incentives have been associated with only two bioscience developments in the city - PRA International and LabOne, which was formerly Home Office Reference Labs and is now Quest Diagnostics.

So what draws these companies to Lenexa?

Schreck said it's a matter of providing the right environment.

"I think the profile for the community we have a vision for synchs up with what bioscience and technology-related companies are looking for," he said.

Schreck and Mayor Mike Boehm both said that Lenexa initially drew in companies by providing the right kind of space in their business and technology parks.

"And I think the quality of life factors here attract the highly educated people with the backgrounds necessary to work for these companies. We've developed a cluster of bioscience companies and now it is feeding on itself. One of the most important things for bioscience companies is being around similar companies to create some synergies with talented scientists or resources like labs," Schreck said, adding that OncImmune's decision to come to Lenexa is a perfect example of that synergy at work.

The bioscience industry has made a considerable investment in Lenexa. For example, PRA International spent $20.9 million on its new headquarters on Renner Boulevard. SASC Bioscience - formerly JRH Bioscience - recently undertook a $15 million expansion and added 40 new jobs, and IBT, which will house OncImmune, just announced a $2 million expansion.

The presence of bioscience companies also brings employment opportunities, more property and sales tax revenue and some esteem to the city, Boehm said.

"I think there is some prestige and recognition related to it," he said. "There usually isn't a discussion about the issue of bioscience development where Lenexa isn't mentioned."

Boehm added that the recognition only helps to bring more bioscience companies to the city.

"When OncImmune from Nottingham, England, makes this announcement, it elevates the stature and recognition of the community with other bioscience companies," he said. "You never know what company is going to pick up on that announcement and Google Lenexa to find out where it is and be the next to bring jobs to the city."