09-26-08 With Innovation Park Under Way, South Bend Area Continues to Break New Ground

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The area’s tradition for innovation traces its roots back to industries founded th there during the 19 century – most notably Studebaker automobile manufacturing and the Oliver Chilled Plow – that first made the area famous for creativity and vision. Today’s ground-breaking propels that tradition into the future. Central to the concept of Innovation Park at Notre Dame is the cultivation of client-service relationships with the individuals and organizations who set up shop there. “We will emphasize client-service relationships, rather than tenant-landlord relationships,” said David Brenner, the research park’s president and chief executive officer. “Leveraging our vast network of entrepreneurial resources, which begins at the University and extends to the region and beyond, will help us deliver exemplary client service. That service will include ready access to: 1. Expertise and mentoring from professionals working in the private sector. 2. Professional service providers in the private sector who offer their services 3. A large network of investors who are available to offer time, talent and financial backing. “That’s where our model differs significantly from other research center models,” Brenner said. “We won’t have to go looking for experts and investors for each project. Many of them are already in place. “That’s our secret sauce,” he said. According to Patrick McMahon, executive director of Project Future, the existence of national corporate partners with deep pockets and a keen interest in the success of the park’s initiatives will be an essential ingredient. “Those initiatives are not just going to be good ideas looking for partners,” said McMahon, whose economic-development organization steered early efforts to get the project under way. “Partners are already there for some projects, and they are some of the largest high-tech corporations in the United States.” The 12-acre site along Edison Road in South Bend, adjacent to the Notre Dame campus and bordering the north side of South Bend – the site of today’s ground- breaking ceremony -- represents a bridge between the University and the marketplace. The first building at the site will be a three-story, 54,000-square-foot structure that will include collaborative areas, conference rooms, administrative offices, incubation facilities and lab space. The target completion date is fall 2009.