HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-05-08 Commission Approves Certified Tech Park agreement
Office of the Mayor
NEWS RELEASE
December 5, 2008
11:30 a.m.
Commission to consider Certified Tech Park agreement
Contact:
Mikki Dobski, Director of Communications & Special Projects, 235-5855 or 876-1564 or Don
Inks, Director of Economic Development, 235-9371
Innovation Park at Notre Dame is under construction near campus. Plans are being developed to
market the Sample Street site to nanotechnology businesses. And a final agreement for Indiana’s
first two-site Certified Technology Park nears completion.
South Bend’s Redevelopment Commission unanimously approved an agreement Friday with the
Indiana Economic Development Corp. for state certification of South Bend’s first technology
park. It consists of two sites:
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12 acres along Edison Road, west of Twyckenham Drive, known as Innovation Park at Notre
Dame.
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83 acres southeast of Sample and Chapin streets on a soon-to-be-named site in the former
Studebaker Corridor.
In addition, the Redevelopment Commission also approved an agreement for a $2 million
Technology Development Grant from the state. The grant, for the purpose of constructing a
business incubator, will be subgranted to the University of Notre Dame, which now is building a
three-story, 54,000-square foot building for Innovation Park.
While both sites are anticipated to house start-up companies seeking to commercialize research,
the Sample Street site is expected to serve as the primary location for Innovation Park “alumni”
as well as enterprises related to MIND, the Midwest Institute for Nanoelectronics Discovery, one
of four national research centers funded by the world’s leading computer-chip makers.
“This Certified Technology Park will advance the position of South Bend as an emerging center
of research, development and innovation, taking a heritage of ingenuity and entrepreneurship to
the next level,” said Mayor Stephen J. Luecke. “At these sites, the tremendous intellectual
property at Notre Dame, the Indiana University School of Medicine in South Bend and other
schools will be leveraged into new businesses and jobs for South Bend in a way that other
communities will envy.”
The Certified Technology Park agreement, for a maximum four-year term ending Dec. 31, 2012,
allows the City of South Bend to capture the maximum $5 million in sales and income taxes to
support the park. According to the terms, the City is required to complete acquisition, demolition
and remediation at the Sample Street site no later than June 1, 2011. The City also is required to
invest an additional $6 million in infrastructure or other construction costs by the end of 2012.
Each year, the City is required to make an Annual Report to the state that highlights the total
employment and payroll for all businesses in the Park, the number of jobs created during the
year, the nature and extent of any technology transfer (from research into commercial products),
the nature and extent of any non-technology businesses in the Park, the use and outcome of any
State monies, as well as an analysis of the Park’s overall contribution to the technology-based
economy in Indiana through capital investment, product development or commercialization.
The Certified Technology Park agreement will require final approval by the South Bend
Common Council in its Dec. 8 meeting. The Redevelopment Commission previously authorized
submission of the technology park and grant applications to the IEDC in August. City and state
officials have worked to draft the agreements since that time.
According to the grant agreement, the City will submit quarterly reports (supplied by Notre
Dame) to the state. The business incubator built with state grant funds must remain an incubator
for the useful life of the facility.
The first building at Innovation Park, estimated at $10 million to $15 million, is expected to be
substantially completed by fall 2009. It will house a reception area, administrative space and a
greenhouse incubator facility as well as space on the second and third floors for client/tenants to
work to transform research into marketable enterprises. The University will own the building and
equipment, which will be leased to Innovation Park.
Three additional buildings, with another 146,000 square feet of space, are expected to be added
at Innovation Park between 2010 and 2018.
“Together with the City, Innovation Park is working to ensure that Park clients have the
resources they need to successfully bring their ideas to the marketplace,” said David Brenner,
president and CEO of Innovation Park at Notre Dame. “The Certified Technology Park
agreement is a tangible step toward that reality.”
Innovation Park’s first phase is projected to create 17 to 23 permanent, full-time jobs and one
part-time job during its first year of operation with an annual payroll of $1.15 million to $1.45
million. There are no projections at this time for the number of jobs anticipated to grow out of
the project as start-up enterprises are transplanted to other sites. The property, now valued at
$210,000, is estimated to have an assessed value of $51 million after improvements.
“When this technology park is completed successfully, it will have significant long-term benefits
that will continue to percolate and send ripples through the community’s economy,” said Patrick
McMahon, executive director of Project Future, an economic-development organization for the
greater South Bend area. “It’s not just commercialization of intellectual capital. It’s a tool for
transitioning a significant portion of our economy.”
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