The Forum - 09/29/2005
NDSU funding falls into place
By Mike Nowatzki, The Forum
A business incubator at North Dakota State University will foster Fargo’s growth as a center for high-tech businesses, Mayor Bruce Furness said Wednesday.
During a news conference at the NDSU Research and Technology Park, Gov. John Hoeven announced that the park has received the final piece of funding needed to build the Center for Enterprise Technology.
The $1.75 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration is believed to be the largest EDA grant in North Dakota history, Hoeven said.
The first phase of the project will cost $5.4 million and consist of constructing the building’s shell and finishing 30,000 square feet inside by October 2006, park director Tony Grindberg said. The park continues to raise $1.5 million in funds for the 20,000-square-foot second phase.
Construction is scheduled to start in November.
Hoeven said the 50,000-square-foot incubator will provide space for businesses that want to do research and develop new technology, while also linking NDSU students to exciting new careers.
Furness said the research park already has been a “huge success” for NDSU and Fargo.
“We do have about 80 high-tech companies here, and as this tech park continues to grow and create more entrepreneurial operators, that number will continue to grow,” he said.
Three companies have committed to working in the incubator, Grindberg said. The companies – Pedigree Technologies, Appareo Systems and Feed Management Systems – currently occupy space in the park’s Research 2 building.
The incubator will sit at the corner of 19th Avenue North and 18th Street, just north of where Alien Technology Corp. of Morgan Hill, Calif., is building a 50,000-square-foot plant to manufacture tiny “smart tag” tracking devices.
NDSU President Joseph Chapman said the additional infrastructure is critical to the university’s growing research efforts. The research park provides opportunities for students and North Dakota businesses, he said.
“There is something around 400 jobs here in this research and technology park we simply didn’t have several years ago,” he said.
The 2003 North Dakota Legislature approved $1.25 million for the incubator as part of Hoeven’s Centers of Excellence initiative. The remaining $2.4 million came from a combination of private and public sources, including a $200,000 grant from the city of Fargo.
Last spring, state lawmakers approved another $50 million for Centers of Excellence. A commission is scheduled to meet Oct. 10 to start reviewing proposals from the state’s colleges and universities.
Mark Nisbet, who chairs the commission and spearheaded the private fund-raising efforts for the incubator, said there is interest from all campuses in the state.
“And I think President Chapman and NDSU are truly showing the other universities how this can be done,” said Nisbet, principal manager for Xcel Energy, which contributed $150,000 to the incubator.
A groundbreaking ceremony for the incubator will be 2 p.m. Oct. 12.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Mike Nowatzki at (701) 241-5528
back
|
