Tri-Cities Research District finally getting off the ground

Aug. 27--More than a decade ago, some Tri-Cities business and technology leaders saw a vast patch of land in north Richland as the potential engine for growth in the post-Hanford era.

So, the land and building owners and tenants in the area north of Stevens Center and east of Stevens Drive -- which includes the campuses of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Washington State University Tri-Cities and large parcels of undeveloped lands owned -- formed the Tri-Cities Science and Technology Park in 1990. Their idea was to help retool the local economy.

Now, that vision is finally getting off the ground.

The park's board recently renamed the area the Tri-Cities Research District and also changed the bylaws of the nonprofit association to shrink the size of the research district from 4,000 acres to a more manageable 1,600 acres, said Diahann Howard, director of economic development and governmental affairs at the Port of Benton, one of the partners in the project.

The group plans to include representatives from local city governments, WorkSource Columbia Basin and Columbia Basin College on the board, Howard said.

The changes will help the association focus on economic development. It's part of a branding strategy recommended last year by Austin, Texas-based consultancy AngelouEconomics, Howard said.

"It'll help us better market the community in partnership with the Tri-City Development Council," Howard said.

The group hopes to get a $1 million state grant to turn the district into an innovation zone.

The money will help pay for infrastructure development and marketing.

And officials believe the designation will help attract technological firms and promote collaboration between companies, major research institutions and highly skilled workers.

It will help the growth of technology-related businesses, research and jobs, said economic development consultant C. Mark Smith, who's helping the group to apply for the state grant.

The collaborative effort also will help existing companies to grow and become more globally competitive, Smith said.

The Tri-Cities needs to play up to its strength in technological innovations as the word gets out about the research district, said Smith, Richland's former economic development manager. The district will help develop regional industry clusters, provide more jobs and training/mentoring opportunities for workers and students in the area.

The group's focus on developing and marketing a core area will set the pace for future development, said Carl Adrian, president and CEO of Tri-City Development Council.

The need is to draw a compatible master plan for about 400 acres in the heart of the district's unoccupied and undeveloped part, said Gary Spanner, manager of PNNL's economic development office.

Planning, branding and marketing of the area are the key to recruiting technological firms to the district, said Spanner who made a presentation about the district to the Pasco City Council in mid-August.

It's a regional project with long-term economic benefits, said Gary Ballew, Richland's business and economic development manager.

The cities are keen to support the plan, because the district will create new jobs and bring more disposable income into the community, he said.

With PNNL and WSU-Tri-Cities, "we've a real opportunity to diversify the local economy," Ballew said.

The partnership between the two institutions to develop and run the Bioproducts, Sciences, Engineering Laboratory on the WSU campus is the perfect model to promote education, research and potentially support local businesses, Ballew and Spanner said.

Spanner said new technological companies will reinforce the lab's work, stimulate further research and economic growth, he said. "We should be able to support 1,000 jobs in 25 acres," Spanner said.

The group is a volunteer body without a formal funding source or full-time staff, said LoAnn Ayers, executive director of the research district board.

But the Angelou study, which put together a comprehensive land use and marketing plan for the area, has energized the group, Ayers said.

It's critical to identify the available resources to move ahead, she said.

The potential innovation zone grant will be used to develop a core area to help recruit companies, Ayers said.

The plan includes providing a fiber optics network and demonstration project on sustainable, clean technology.

The study said companies in biotechnology, clean energy, software and computation and environmental sciences will be a good fit for the district, Spanner said.

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LOAD-DATE: August 27, 2007