Biomedical business incubator planned

Officials of the Louisville Medical Center Development Corp. broke ground June 7 on a biomedical and information technology incubator that will house up to 20 start-up businesses in downtown Louisville.

Many of the companies are being founded by UofL faculty members who were hired here in part with money from the state's Research Challenge Trust Fund, or "Bucks for Brains" program.

Gov. Paul Patton said the center, which will be located at the corner of Brook and Jefferson streets, represents yet another opportunity for the state to receive a return on its investments in higher education.

"Through Bucks For Brains, Kentucky is now a state where some of the most innovative research is taking place," Patton said.

"Now, with this incubator we've created the infrastructure needed to capture the economic development potential and high-paying jobs that will derive from research taking place within the medical center."

Designed by the Arrasmith, Judd and Rapp architectural firm, the 50,000-square-foot, three-story building will have a sleek metallic façade that is meant to appeal to many of its high-tech and biomedical entrepreneurs.

The building will offer wet and dry lab space and modular equipment that can be easily adapted to fit the needs of tenants.

At full capacity, it will house up to 250 employees and could generate up to $1.6 million in new taxes for the state.

"The innovation center will be the cornerstone of our developing research park and will enable us to actively market the community to life sciences and high-tech start-ups," said Mayor David Armstrong, chairman of LMCDC.

"When this incubator opens, this community will have been successful in creating a strong and viable high-tech district that will attract additional investment and position Louisville as a regional leader for biotech companies."

The information technology component of the incubator is an expansion of UofL's highly successful Information Technology Resource Center, currently located on its Shelby Campus.

"The downtown program represents a convergence between information technology and life sciences companies and an unprecedented opportunity for the university to explore the boundaries between the two fields," said UofL President John Shumaker.

"Within this space, some of our brightest and best researchers seeking to commercialize their technology will have a chance to come together and develop products that could improve and save lives."

Funding for construction was secured through a $5 million state appropriation to LMCDC during the 2000 legislative session and a $5 million grant from the Kentucky Innovation Commission.

The commission was established last year to support the governor's efforts to build a knowledge-based economy throughout the commonwealth.