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1998 SESSION

987267860
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 39
Offered January 14, 1998
Requesting the Center for Innovative Technology to study university-affiliated research parks.
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Patrons-- Howell, Newman, Schrock and Ticer; Delegates: Almand, Bennett, Diamonstein, May, Plum and Scott
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Referred to the Committee on Rules
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WHEREAS, the Biotechnology Research Park, created in 1992 in Richmond, is an incubator facility designed to assist start-up entrepreneurial companies conducting biomedical and biotechnology research and development; and

WHEREAS, the Biotechnology Research Park is equipped with laboratories and fiber optic telecommunications and provides library, conference, administrative, and networking facilities; and

WHEREAS, estimates of the economic impact of the Biotechnology Research Park suggest that with a $2.5 million investment, 60 new jobs would be created; and

WHEREAS, those same estimates suggest that a $5 million investment would create 120 new jobs and a $10 million investment would create 200 new jobs; and

WHEREAS, it is anticipated that within the next 10 to 15 years, all 34 acres of the Biotechnology Research Park will be fully developed, thereby increasing its value as an economic development tool; and

WHEREAS, it is expected that one-half of the anticipated development of the Biotechnology Research Park will occur as a result of its close affiliation with Virginia Commonwealth University; and

WHEREAS, the Biotechnology Research Park estimates that state support of university-affiliated research parks among southeastern states contributes approximately 30 percent of the parks' annual operating costs; and

WHEREAS, the Biotechnology Research Park estimates that it receives about six percent of its annual operating budget from the Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS, the Jefferson Center for Research and Technology is part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, located in the City of Newport News; and

WHEREAS, the Applied Research Center is the flagship research facility at the Jefferson Center for Research and Technology; and

WHEREAS, the Applied Research Center is a unique collaboration of several in-state and out-of-state institutions of higher education, including the College of William and Mary, Christopher Newport University, Norfolk State University, and Old Dominion University, scientists and researchers from the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, and private industry such as IBM Corporation, 3M, and Xerox Corporation, all working together to develop new technologies which produce new materials and new processes of significant importance to industry; and

WHEREAS, the City of Newport News invested $14 million to build a seven story, 122,000 square foot laboratory to serve as the hub of what is anticipated to be a key center for research, development, and commercialization of new technologies; and

WHEREAS, in addition to the Biotechnology Research Park and the Applied Research Center, the Commonwealth also enjoys or will enjoy many benefits derived from the Corporate Research Center at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, two university-affiliated research parks in the greater Charlottesville area, and another university-affiliated research park currently being developed in Prince William County; and

WHEREAS, the contribution of university-affiliated research parks to Virginia's economy, the value of university-affiliated research parks to Virginia's development as a technology state, and the appropriate level of state funding to support the ongoing health and vitality of university-affiliated research parks in the Commonwealth has not previously been studied; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the Center for Innovative Technology be requested to study university-affiliated research parks. The study shall include analysis and documentation of the contribution of university-affiliated research parks to Virginia's economy, the value of university-affiliated research parks to Virginia's development as a technology state, and the appropriate level of state funding to support the ongoing health and vitality of university-affiliated research parks in the Commonwealth.

All agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the Center for Innovative Technology for this study, upon request.

The Center for Innovative Technology shall provide a report on the status of its study to the Joint Commission on Technology and Science on or before October 15, 1998, and shall complete its work in time to submit its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the 1999 Session of the General Assembly as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents.