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Winston-Salem, N.C., Firms Urged to Push Biotechnology in Area

Posted on: Saturday, 9 July 2005, 00:00 CDT

Jul. 8--The 31 tenants within the Piedmont Triad Research Park are all based in different buildings, but they're still connected.

That's the sentiment from research park officials, who said yesterday the park's tenants need to work together to foster biotechnology throughout the area.

In February, park officials created the Tenant Association Network, a collection of businesses in the park that meet to discuss growth within the biotechnology and business-services industry, said Nancy Johnston, the park's director of marketing.

The group, which will meet three times a year, will ultimately help shape the research park's growth, Johnston said.

"We are growing and we're creating a community of sorts," said Johnston, who was hired in January. "It's an extremely valuable tool."

But the association network is just one of the new developments at the park. A pair of new tenants and a biotechnology construction project could help the park establish itself as a biotech cluster in the region, park officials said.

Specialty Operations Solutions Inc., a project management company based in Atlanta, opened an office in the research park in March. The N.C. BioNetwork Pharmaceutical Center, a pharmaceutical training center, opened in the park in May.

Park officials are also trying to lease space in the Biotechnology Research Facility I, the five-floor, $70 million building that will include a tissue-engineering company run by Anthony Atala, a Wake Forest University professor.

The building, scheduled for completion early next year, has about 61,000 square-feet of space available on its first two floors, Johnston said.

Johnston said the park is attempting to attract several biotechnology companies for the first floor, and about two companies for the second floor.

"We absolutely have been talking to many different prospects," she said.

The park's marketing efforts have increased along with the region's growing biotech industry, other park tenants said.

The Tenant Association Network is one way to take advantage of the particular skills between researchers and small businessmen, said Gwyn Riddick, the director of the Winston-Salem office of the N.C. Biotechnology Center, based in the park.

Scientists and entrepreneurs typically take different paths in product development and bringing the two minds together can help further the technology industry, Riddick said.

"What we're seeing here is one of the few organized efforts to really build an entire community," he said. "The park itself is really moving forward."

Johnston said that the research park is also working a new public relations campaign, but declined to provide details.

"What's going in the park right now is very powerful," she said. "I would say that we're emerging."

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Source: Winston-Salem Journal

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