Recent State Investments in Research Space (November 2002)

States around the country are investing in research space as a strategy to encourage economic growth.

Including:

Alabama
2002: Auburn University will receive a $20 million match from the state for $20 million in Federal money for construction of the 194,000 square foot center for transportation technology on campus. The center will house researchers developing analytical approaches to highway design and construction, traffic modeling and vehicle safety.

2001: Gov. Don Siegelman agreed to provide $35 million from a state economic development fund to boost a $90 million biomedical research facility at UAB. He also announced formation of the Alabama Research Alliance, a state, business and research university partnership designed to boost the state's research investment.

California
2002: Proposition 47 (approved by voters November 2002) will provide $13.05 billion in bonds, issued and repaid by the state of California for the construction and modernization of elementary, secondary and higher education facilities. $1.65 billion is reserved for college campuses. The governor and Legislature will select the projects to be paid for by the bond dollars and some this funding will likely go toward the completion of a new science building at Cal State Long Beach that will contain state-of-the-art teaching and research laboratories for chemists, biochemists and biologists.

2001-2002: UC Davis constructed a $39.6 million Plant and Environmental Sciences Building with half the funding provided by state bonds and the other half through campus funds. UC Davis is also set to open a $95 million Genome and Biomedical Center in 2004 funded in part by the Whitaker Foundation with the remaining funding from the Garamendi legislation (the Garamendi law allows the university to take out a construction loan and then pay it off using the overhead charges to research grants that would otherwise be funneled to the state).

December 2000: California Gov. Gray Davis announced establishment of the California Institutes for Science and Innovation, which will be underwritten by $300 million in state funds over four years and more than twice that amount from corporate sponsors. There will be three major research institutions dedicated to nanotechnology, biotechnology and telecommunications and computing.

The institutions, comprising joint ventures among campuses in the University of California system, are intended to increase the competitiveness of the state's economy by focusing on technology challenges from transportation to agriculture.

They will include these components:

• The California Nanosystems Institute, at the University of California at Los Angeles in collaboration with the University of California at Santa Barbara, which will focus on the development of extremely miniaturized technologies.
• The California Institute for Bioengineering, Biotechnology and Quantitative Biomedicine, at the University of California at San Francisco in collaboration with the University of California at Berkeley and the University of California at Santa Cruz.
• The California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology, at the University of California at San Diego in collaboration with the University of California at Irvine, whose work will include development of a more powerful, wireless Internet.

Florida
October 2002: A new $180-million addition to the H. Lee Moffitt Center, the Vincent A. Stabile Research Building, which is to be completed in April 2003, will add 350,000 square feet of research space that can be used as a recruitment tool and help USF gain national recognition as a Research I university. The new research center will have three floors of research laboratories and will provide Moffitt with research and clinical areas as well as a conference center and auditorium. The project's approved budget is $122 million and is expected to reach $180 million when the multi-phased project is completed in the next few years.

In June, Vincent A. Stabile, local philanthropist and retired businessman, donated $15 million to the Moffitt Center. The money is the largest private donation ever made to the Moffitt Center, which opened in 1986. The Stabile building will be one of many additions made to the Moffitt Center over the next few years.

The tower project is funded by multiple sources, including the majority financed by the James L. Stevens Act as part of the tobacco settlement that was passed in May 2002. The Stevens Act provides that a portion of the cigarette tax be paid monthly to the Board of Directors of the Moffitt Center to finance cancer research at USF. Moneys transferred to the Board of Directors of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute will be used to secure financing to pay costs related to constructing, furnishing, and equipping the cancer research facility. Financing for the Moffitt Center will come in the form of tax exempt bonds by a local authority, municipality, or county.

Georgia
Since 1990 the State has invested $200 million in the Georgia Research Alliance, matched by $50 million from the private sector. This has resulted in an additional $500 million from the federal government in increased grants and contracts awarded competitively based on the increased merit and achievement of the research enterprise built at the six research universities.

The enterprise has doubled since 1990, from $400 million annually to over $800 million. Venture capital has tripled, patents awarded have tripled and industry relationships with university researchers have more than quadrupled.

Idaho
2002: Governor Dirk Kempthorne approved the use by Idaho State University of about $1 million in funds to build an expansion of the Idaho Accelerator Center in Pocatello. Despite poor state tax revenues, Kempthorne says school President Richard Bowen's responsible fiscal management and planning helped him feel comfortable authorizing the construction.

Illinois
October 7, 2002: Gov. George Ryan’s VentureTech program will provide $123 million to the University of Illinois so it can develop three high-tech research facilities on its Urbana-Champaign campus. The money is separate from the state’s higher education budget and will be included in the state budget for the current fiscal year, approved in June. The disbursement includes:

• $67.5 million for the Post Genomic Institute
  The 110,000-square-foot building will include laboratories and facilities for scientists from several disciplines to study plant genomics and conduct cutting-edge biotechnology research. The institute will focus on the development of new technologies and capitalize on the biology/engineering interface, growth in the field of biotechnology and expansion into commercialization. A few of the research examples include new varieties of corn and pest-resistant soybeans, improvements in animal sciences, biofarming, and farmaceuticals – the production of pharmaceuticals through the modification of animals’ genetic material.
  The Post Genomic Institute was put on hold by Ryan last fall to help cover a budget shortfall, but money for the project was reinstated in his budget recommendation after the first of the year.
• $27 million for a new National Center for Supercomputing Applications building
  A new 127,000-square-foot building will house the NCSA offices and research labs. Staff and equipment for NCSA are now spread among seven buildings on campus.
• $18 million to expand the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory
  The Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory provides space for research in microelectronics and optoelectronics. Plans to expand the lab will add 45,000 square feet to support new research and promote economic development activities

Construction of the buildings, which will occupy a total of nearly 230,000 square feet, will begin this year. There is no official timeline for the project, but all three buildings are expected to be completed within the next two years. Gov. Ryan’s office estimates the project will create 1,500 construction jobs.

Gov. Ryan’s VentureTech program is a $2 billion, five-year program Gov. Ryan launched in 2000 to invest state resources in technology. The program is funding projects like the construction of research facilities at Northwestern University's Chicago campus and the University of Illinois at Chicago. VentureTech has also funded the following “bricks and mortar” investments:

• Rare Isotope Accelerator Science Center at Argonne - The Rare Isotope Accelerator Science Center, to be located at Argonne National Laboratory, is seen as an important incentive in the competition to attract the U.S. Department of Energy’s proposed $850 million Rare Isotope Accelerator (RIA) to Illinois. Illinois is actively recruiting the Rare Isotope Accelerator, a concept seen as essential to continued scientific research into the basic questions about the origin of the elements and for important applications to medicine, industry, and other applied physics research. It is estimated that locating the RIA in Illinois could create 400 jobs and provide $200 million per year in benefits to the Illinois economy. The State’s commitment to provide a total of $16.6 million for the construction of the RIA Science Center would provide the offices, laboratory space, and conference rooms to serve the administrative needs of visiting scientists and students conducting research at the accelerator.
• Center for Nanofabrication and Molecular Self-Assembly - Located in the Institute for Nanotechnology at Northwestern University, this project advances research initiatives designed to position Illinois as a leader in this field, including research, technology transfer, educational outreach programs, and expanded business collaborations. VentureTech will allocate $5 million for this project in FY02 and FY03. The state funding has leveraged $11.2 million in NSF funding, as well as an additional $10 million from the U.S. Department of Defense for nanotechnology research at Northwestern.
• Argonne Nanoscale Center - Argonne National Laboratory is one of five nanoscale science research centers proposed by the U.S. Department of Energy. Argonne’s Center for Nanoscale Materials will accelerate the fields of nanoscience and nanotechnology by developing and supporting advanced facilities for the synthesis and characterization of nanostructures for both internal and external users. The Center will leverage existing facilities at Argonne, especially the Advanced Photon Source. VentureTech earmarks $19 million for this project in FY02 and FY03.
• Thomas M. Siebel Center for Computer Sciences - Currently under construction, this new $80 million building at the University of Illinois will facilitate advances in high-performance networking, distributed computing, data mining and mobile computing – the vision of anywhere, anytime access to information. The state is sharing the cost with private donations, including $32 million from Thomas M. Siebel, CEO of Siebel Systems, Inc.
• UI National Center for Supercomputing Applications Building - This new $30 million home for the next generation of Internet applications and networks will help attract federally funded research and has already been leveraged for projects such as the TeraGrid.
• Fermi Accelerator Research - Lead by the Illinois Institute of Technology, this is a $2.5 million annual state partnership with Fermilab and a consortium of Illinois universities to examine the next generation of accelerator technology.
• Advanced Photon Source - This is a national synchrotron radiation research facility in which six Illinois universities participate collaboratively with scientists from private industry and the federal government. VentureTech allocates $3 million annually for the consortium of universities to participate in the APS.
• UI Microelectronics Laboratory - A major $18 million expansion of the Microelectronics Laboratory at the U of I in Urbana will spearhead research and industrial collaboration in nanotechnology. This outgrowth of supercomputing will dramatically benefit biotechnology and information technology efforts.
• University of Illinois Tech Incubator - With VentureTech funding of more than $10 million, the incubator is becoming an integral part of the Champaign-Urbana research park, which will provide essential office and laboratory space for researchers and entrepreneurs. The State’s investment is being matched by university and private resources. New spin-off companies are expected to result from improved commercialization of university research, creating new jobs and industries in Illinois.
• UI Medical School - This state-of-the-art $93 million research facility on the University of Illinois’ Chicago campus is 20 percent complete and will add biomedical research capabilities and increase the capacity to find treatment and cures for diseases. This investment in research, which will leverage federal National Institute of Health funds, will also help cut down on healthcare costs.
• Chicago Tech Park Expansion - The state is continuing its investment in the expansion of the Chicago Tech Park. The state’s investment will leverage a tenfold return of private sector financing for the construction of a $17 million technology commercialization center on the West Side of Chicago in the Illinois Medical District. Located in the Tech Park will be a $3.5 million Enterprise Center II, which will open in the summer of 2002 to serve biotechnology firms. In addition, the $50 million Cohn biomedical research facility is being financed by $20 million in state funds and $30 million in private funds from Rush Medical Center.
• UI Medical Resonance Imaging - A $10 million VentureTECH grant will help construct in Chicago the premier medical imaging research/clinical facility in the nation. Research conducted utilizing this new imaging technology will lead to improved healthcare and commercially viable software and hardware, while training students moving into electronic healthcare industries. The facility will be completed during the summer of 2002.
• UI Chemical Sciences Building - This new research facility in Chicago will allow connections between the basic structural biology and science to biotechnology. Research areas include tumor growth, HIV, immunology, dental, orthopedics and environmental impacts. VentureTech is committing more than $70 million to the project.
• Northwestern University Biomedical Research Building - This new biomedical research building will become part of an entire complex at Northwestern’s Chicago campus that will keep Illinois at the forefront of biomedical research. The Michael H. Lurie Research Center will provide new laboratory space for areas such as genetics, cancer, biomedical engineering, cardiovascular disease, neuroscience and aging. The state’s $30 million investment has already secured an additional $90 million in private investment and is expected to yield $76 million annually in federal research grants.
• SIU Cancer Institute - More than $17 million has been committed to create a new research and public service cancer institute at the SIU School of Medicine in Springfield. The institute will build upon existing capabilities in basic and clinical research, instruction and public service and will make treatment resources available to local health care providers in Central and Southern Illinois that serve more than 3 million people.
• University of Chicago Juvenile Diabetes Center - A state contribution of $13.4 million has been allocated for a state-of-the-art facility, located at the University of Chicago, that will advance the study, treatment and research of juvenile diabetes and related complications.
• Illinois Institute of Technology Biomedical Research Center - The state has committed $12 million for a new facility designed to house programs in biomedical engineering, pharmaceutical manufacturing, genetics research, cancer research and pre-clinical trials. The Center will include a full-service business incubator for emerging firms.

Kansas
September 2002: Kansas State University officials broke ground on the new $7 million Bioprocessing and Industrial Value-Added Program facility, an agriculture research building. A project of KSU's grain science and industry department, the facility will provide space for an existing extrusion laboratory plus a new fermentation laboratory. When completed in about two years, the BIVAP building will enable entrepreneurs to work with KSU faculty members to develop value-added products using Kansas' grain production as a way of stimulating commercial demand for the state's annual crop bounty. The BIVAP facility also will provide pilot space for private industry interests to test such processes as plastic molding and thermal processing of grains. Funding for the facility has been provided by a $3 million appropriation from the Legislature and a $4 million state loan. The BIVAP facility is planned as the first in a new five-building complex that will provide a new home on the campus' north side for the teaching and research programs sponsored by the grain science and industry department. Construction of the next two structures on the site is expected to be underway within the next 12 months, including a flour mill and the international grains program conference center. A state-of-the-art feed mill, followed by the final element of the complex, a proposed combination classroom and administrative center, will complete the complex, perhaps as early as 2010. The cost of the overall project is estimated at $60 million, to be substantially funded by non-public sources.

Michigan
1999-2002: In May 1999 the University of Michigan committed $200 million for the establishment of a life sciences institute and by 2002 the University of Michigan is spending about $700 million on new life sciences research facilities including a Life Sciences Institute Building, a 236,000 gross square foot state-of-the-art research laboratory building. Construction costs are estimated at $96 million with construction scheduled to be completed summer 2003. University of Michigan is also investing in roughly $220 million for a new Biomedical Science Research Building. The state has set aside $1 billion to develop its Michigan Life Sciences Corridor over the next 20 years.

Minnesota
October 1999: University of Minnesota broke ground for its new $79 million Molecular and Cellular Biology building expected to be completed in 2002. Governor Ventura’s capital budget recommends major asset preservation improvements including $35 million to complete the Molecular and Cellular Biology building at the University of Minnesota, and $10 million to match an equal amount of private funds for construction of a Microbial and Plant Genomics building.

Missouri
September 2002: Gov. Bob Holden pledged to provide $31 million in state funds for a life sciences building that business leaders hope will boost Kansas City into the top ranks of bioresearch centers in the nation. The building would house the university's schools of Pharmacy and Nursing and cutting-edge laboratory and research facilities, university officials said. Holden said he would release $1.7 million immediately, which will allow the university to begin seeking an architect to design the project. Even in tough economic times, he said, the state must make investments that will make Missouri a leader in research and development of new products.

Nebraska
2002: Creighton University Medical Center is squeezing a six-story science center between buildings. It also is renovating existing space into a neuroscience lab that can be used only by NIH-funded scientists. Creighton currently has tax-exempt financing in place and has received oral commitments to substantially cover the costs of the new building.

2001: In December, the board approved the renovation of approximately 33,000 gross square feet to help support UNMC’s growing research enterprise. In light of budget constraints, UNMC has reconsidered plans to complete the project prior to occupancy of its new Research Center of Excellence, a 10-level research building which is expected to open in September 2003.

New Jersey
September 2002: University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey has embarked on a $518 million building program to house new research, classroom and clinical space. Four years ago the university began a major push to improve its research capabilities, including programs in cancer, cardiovascular disease, neuroscience and injury caused by trauma.

The university has already completed the International Center for Public Health, a $78 million building in Newark, with the help of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA). The EDA financing and real estate capabilities are both being used for the project. The State of New Jersey provided an $18 million appropriation to the EDA for site acquisition, relocation, design and improvement costs. The EDA sold $46 million in low-interest, long-term bonds for the project, and the balance is being funded through various grants and loans obtained by UMDNJ and University Heights Science Park. A new $37 million behavioral health science building is set to open in Newark next spring, and UMDNJ is building a new $45 million research tower for molecular biology in Piscataway.

Rutgers has plans for two new medical research buildings - A $28 million complex that will house Dr. Tischfield's genetics programs and biomaterials research, and a $23.8 million center for biomedical engineering. Both buildings, financed by state higher education funds, a bond offering and Rutgers's own capital campaign, are to open in 2004.

Summer 2002: University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey broke ground on a $100 million, seven-story cancer center in Newark that will include a hospital complex along with cancer research labs. It is also tripling the size of its cancer facility in New Brunswick with a $71 million, 150,000-square foot building. In addition, the university's Cancer Institute of New Jersey will receive $20 million in financing from the state's tobacco settlement fund.The buildings are to be financed through $95 million in state bonding authorized by the Whitman administration and an additional $280 million in bonds underwritten by the university alone. The university will finance the rest of the construction with gifts to the university and other internal funds.

New Mexico
2002: Voters passed Bond Measure B, which allows the state to issue general-obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $93.4 million to pay for facilities at public schools and colleges.

New York
In 2001, the New York State Legislature approved Gen*NY*sis, a $225 million fund created to promote the biotechnology industry. Gen*NY*sis’ budget includes $225 million during the next three years and is part of a $1.2 billion capital program to expand businesses and create new high-tech and biotech businesses in the state.

2002: During September 2002 Gov. Pataki announced three major Gen*NY*sis investments:

• September 2002: The University at Albany will build a $45 million, 125,000-square-foot Center for Excellence in Cancer Genomics at its East Campus, the hub of the school's biotechnology efforts. Much of the work at the new center will be devoted to understanding metastasis, or the spread of cancerous cells. But researchers also plan to test ways of treating cancer as well. UAlbany’s East Campus works on a "co-location" model, where academic research is conducted in the same buildings (and even laboratories). Besides university scientists, researchers from the Stratton Veterans Affairs Medical Center Hospital in Albany and Taconic Biotechnology, which now operates at the East Campus, will also be included in the project. Other companies, including Swiss drug-discovery firm Smart Gene and Tarrytown drug maker Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., both of which already have facilities at the East Campus, would likely take space in the new building. Other, smaller companies are also being sought as tenants. The state's $225 million Gen*NY*sis science fund will kick in $22.5 million. The university, along with private business, will add the rest. The state's outlay will include $19 million for the building, $2.5 million for equipment and $1 million to match federal grants. The exact amounts of private-sector funding haven’t been determined. When it opens, the project is expected to create 230 jobs. Construction will start in the spring and last 18 months. Gov. George Pataki said the announcement, coupled with a plan to open a $403 million microchip research and development facility called International Sematech North at UAlbany this fall, will make the region "a worldwide leader in high-tech and biotech research and economic development."
• September 2002: The state will provide $48 million to support a $71.5 million partnership between industry and university groups on Long Island to bolster biotechnology and educational and research programs, according to Gov. George Pataki's office. Included in the Long Island project is $35 million for the Bioinformatics Research Center at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and a $20 million incubator at the state University at Farmingdale's bioscience park. Funding for the project is being provided through state economic development programs, including Gen*NY*sis.
• September 2002: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will receive $22.5 million from the state to create a Center for Bioengineering and Medicine. The research center will be housed in RPI's Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, an $80 million, 218,000-square-foot facility currently being built on RPI's Troy, N.Y. campus. The state grant will pay for infrastructure support, laboratory equipment, and facilities. Research will be conducted in drug synthesis, biosensors and monitoring, and tissue repair and replacement. About 290 people will work at the center and the construction phase of the project will generate 250 jobs.

In addition to Gen*NY*sis funds, during September 2002 Governor Pataki announced the following investments in research space:

• September 2002: The $30 million pledged to the University of Rochester Medical Center by Gov. Pataki will mean new tenants for Rochester Technology Park and seed money for start-up biotechnology companies. Part of the long-awaited grant -- about $20 million -- also will pay for completing construction and equipment purchases at the medical center’s new research buildings, which UR officials described as essential for the recruitment of scientists and technicians. UR officials estimate the $30 million -- the largest single contribution to the medical center’s research efforts -- will create 3,500 jobs at the medical center, related vendors and spin-off companies and in construction. It is also projected to help produce $45 million in venture capital and royalties. UR will use about $5 million to support a partnership with Rochester Technology Park in Gates. The venture, University Technology Partners Inc., will help commercialize UR research discoveries. About $5 million will be used to lease tech park space for start-ups created from UR biomedical research, said Mark Scheuerman, president and chief executive of UTP.
• September 2002: Governor Pataki announced that state taxpayers will supply $20 million of the $35 million needed to build the first phase of a proposed 240,000 square-foot Central New York Biotechnology Research Center. The biotech center, jointly run by SUNY Upstate Medical University and the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, will eventually grow to encompass three buildings and cost $80 million. The first phase will be 80,000 square feet on less than an acre leased from the Syracuse Veterans Affairs Medical Center and will cost $35 million. To complete that phase, center officials plan to seek $10 million from the federal government and raise the remaining $5 million from other sources. Grants from federal agencies such as the National Institutes of Health are expected to pay for equipment for the center. The second and third phases are expected to cost about $22.5 million each. Each building will be about 80,000 square feet. Researchers will study plants and animals in hopes of finding solutions to medical and environmental issues. The $20 million state contribution is $5 million more than the colleges expected to receive to get the project started. Officials touted the center as a boon for the local economy, initially generating 250 jobs with the possibility that it will create 1,000 jobs once all three phases of the complex are complete. Groundbreaking for the first phase is anticipated to take place in about 18 months.
• September 2002: The Mohawk Valley will be home to the Griffiss Institute for Information Assurance, due to $4.5 million in state funding. The facility will be a research/training center that will build on cyber security and information assurance -- two key components of the Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome. The Institute will support a collaboration between corporate, academic and government entities to create a research lab and spinoff information companies. Under the plan, Gov. Pataki's office will provide $1.5 million in capital support to the Griffiss Institute and the Senate and Assembly will each provide $1 million and $500,0000 in start-up operating aid that Sen. Raymond A. Meier, R-Western, and Assemblywoman RoAnn M. Destito, D-Rome, secured.

North Carolina
2001: The Legislature of North Carolina voted for $5.1 billion in bonds with $4.5 billion going to UNC for new buildings and renovations. The measure passed in every county of the state with an overall 73% positive vote. The vote came after an intensive consultant's study of need, much lobbying, and a lot of support from the NC Citizens for Business and Industry who raised the money for a campaign.

September 2002: Several major projects have bid successfully for funding, including the B.B Dougherty Renovation at Appalachian State ($1.3 million), Film Archives Building at the North Carolina School of the Arts ($2.2 million), Central Utilities Plant at North Carolina State University ($15.9 million), and Health Sciences Library Renovation at UNC-Chapel Hill ($12 million).

In addition to the continuing pace of work coming under award, the number of projects moving to completion is increasing. Projects completed since the last report include Bryan Center Upgrades at the North Carolina School of Science and Math and Undergraduate Science Teaching Labs – Phase 1 Greenhouses at North Carolina State University. The first formal ribbon-cutting ceremony for a bond project was held on August 19 at UNC-Chapel Hill to celebrate the completion of the R.B. House Library Renovations. Currently, more than 62 percent of bond projects are underway with a commitment of bond funds totaling more than $567 million. An additional 6.9 percent of projects equaling $40 million is committed to construction or land acquisitions already completed. Together, these commitments mean that the bond program has engaged approximately 24 percent of the program’s total dollar value and nearly 70 percent of all projects.

NC State University’s Centennial Campus in Raleigh will soon break ground for a new building devoted entirely to nanotechnology R&D. The building will be 80,000 square feet and will cost $24 million. It is set to open July 2004.

Oklahoma
March 2002: Governor Frank Keating signed legislation which appropriated $38 million to establish a national weather center at the University of Oklahoma in Norman and state-of-the art bioterrorism research facilities at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. The federal government has set aside funds to match the state's investment including $19 million for the OU weather center. OSU is expected to receive a sizable portion of the $20 billion the Bush Administration and Congress are expected to allocate for bioterrorism research.

"This legislation will pay enormous long term benefits to the state of Oklahoma," Governor Keating said. "Establishing these facilities at our two comprehensive universities will enable Oklahoma to establish itself as the premier center in the United States for weather and bioterrorism related research. These projects will provide students with an educational environment second to none and will have a tremendous impact on both the public and private sector.”

South Carolina
September 2002: BMW announced a $10 million endowment for Clemson University to create a graduate engineering education center in Greenville. The gift is the largest cash donation in Clemson's history. BMW's $10 million pledge will endow the academic programs, and S.C. Governor Jim Hodges has said that the state will give $25 million to build and equip a state-of-the-art research facility. The recently conceived graduate center for automotive research is expected to attract at least 50 initial students. The center would provide both the academic and research support needed by BMW, its suppliers and the state's rapidly growing automotive industry.

Tennessee
2002: Memphis hopes to build a $40 million, 160,000-square-foot lab building that will represent phase one of the UT-Baptist Research Park. When complete, the UT-Baptist Research Park will consist of 1.2 million square feet of research space, including an incubator, teaching and high-tech job creation. The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development announced a grant of $750,000 to the City of Memphis, to begin the infrastructure work necessary to build the biotech research park in Midtown. Tennessee Industrial Infrastructure Program (TIIP) funds are to be used for infrastructure improvements or for job-specific workforce training for Tennessee industry. The current goal is to raise $32 million from public and private sources over the next two years, says JR 'Pitt' Hyde, president of the Hyde Family Foundation, which launched the Biotech Foundation last year.

In Nashville, officials hope to break ground in October on a $74 million, 134,000-square-foot biomedical research center, located on 9.1 acres on Nichol Mill Lane in Cool Springs. Plans there call for an initial research campus of three buildings; the first two buildings, each roughly 32,000 square feet, will be designed for offices, wet lab and clean room space. A third proposed building would be 64,000 square feet with the capabilities for expansion up to 84,000 square feet. Tenants for the center are Dr. Sam Lynch-led BioMimetic Pharmaceuticals Inc., Virtual Drug Development Inc., New Hope Pharmaceuticals and Vanderbilt University. Tony Grande, State Commissioner of the State Department of Economic and Community Development, formally announced a $464,218 Tennessee Industrial Infrastructure Program (TIIP) grant to the City of Franklin in support of the planned Cool Springs Life Sciences Center. This grant is a departure from the traditional manufacturing grants awarded by the state. Even more significant is the fact that this is the first time this grant has been designated for the Life Sciences industry.

Virginia
2002: In November voters approved a law, endorsed by the General Assembly and by Gov. Mark R. Warner, that allows the Commonwealth to sell bonds to pay for capital projects at public colleges, museums, and other educational facilities. The total amount of bonds the commonwealth can issue will be no more than $900.5 million. UVa will get $68.3 million in projects from passage of the bond referendum, including more than $24 million toward a 183,000-square-foot medical research building that would provide lab space for research in cancer, infectious diseases, allergies and immunology. Another $7 million would help UVa build a 100,000-square-foot research facility for the engineering school's material science engineering department and the Center for Nanoscopic Materials Design. At the GMU campus in Fairfax, their share of the bond would go toward both a performing arts facility and research facility. In all, Virginia community colleges would receive $231 million for repairs, renovations and construction.