In a ceremony symbolic of the South Bend area's longstanding tradition for breaking new ground, local and visiting dignitaries today took shovels to soil at the site of a new research center and technology park that represents a collaboration between the community and the University of Notre Dame.  The project also is affiliated with the Indiana University School of Medicine at South Bend.

Innovation Park at Notre Dame, an initiative that will support the needs of researchers and entrepreneurs taking research discoveries from initial concept to commercialization, will provide a major platform for converting intellectual property into economic growth.

Research parks associated with other major universities have proven successful in encouraging research, taking innovative ideas to the marketplace, creating relationships between communities and universities, and spurring economic growth.  It is expected that Innovation Park at Notre Dame will have the same kind of impact on the South Bend area over time.

But Innovation Park will take that formula a step further, using a unique approach that builds on key strengths of both the community and the university.

According to Stephen J. Luecke, mayor of South Bend, the new technology park will enhance the area's position as an emerging center of research, development and innovation to meet the technological challenges of the 21st century.

"What excites me about Innovation Park is that it builds on our local tradition of ingenuity and entrepreneurship, and allows us to take that tradition to the next level," Luecke said. 

 "The South Bend area has always had a diversified economy, and that has served us very well.  Innovation Park will give us a number of new core competencies that we expect to fuel an economic growth spurt well above the national average."

The area's tradition for innovation traces its roots back to industries founded there during the 19th 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.

Plans are being developed for future expansion at this  location.

The property at the Edison Road location will cost an estimated $10 million to $15 million in the construction of its first facility There is space available for up to three additional buildings, with another 146,000 square feet of space, to be developed as demand dictates. Total cost of the construction is estimated at $10 million to $60 million, with a minimum of $500,000 in new equipment.

An additional 83 acres in the former Studebaker Corridor on South Bend's near west side represents the city's portion of the dual-location site, providing space for firms that outgrow or relocate from Innovation Park. The Studebaker Corridor site was built in 1917 as the machine shop and engine plant of the Studebaker Corp., one of South Bend's early manufacturing giants that made the area famous for innovation.

The site has been vacant since 2003, and demolition of the derelict buildings began earlier this year to make way for new facilities.

"We have known for some time that we wanted to find a new use for the site of the old Studebaker facility," Mayor Luecke said.  "Innovation Park provides us with a specific market for the property's redevelopment."

The new research facility has generated enthusiastic support from beyond the South Bend area, including Congressman Joe Donnelly, who recently secured funding though the Congressional appropriations process to help purchase laboratory equipment.

The Office of Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, who announced in a separate release sent today that the park is now a state-certified technology park, which paves the way for the region to leverage state funds in support of the facility. 

"Notre Dame and north central Indiana have a rich history in innovation and technology," Daniels said in the release.  By investing in the park, we are providing the foundation for those technologies to be transformed into job-creating businesses for Hoosiers across the region.

Senator Evan Bayh, D-Ind., sent words of support from his office in Washington.

"Innovation Park will bring new jobs to the South Bend area and stimulate economic growth in our state," Bayh said.

"Innovation drives the economy of tomorrow, and this project will help Hoosier businesses compete in the global marketplace. I look forward to working with the City of South Bend, the University of Notre Dame and Project Future as preparations are made for the many technological developments to come at Innovation Park."

Innovation Park's first facility is projected to create approximately 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. Currently, there are no projections available for the number of jobs anticipated to grow out of the project over time. 

Visit the Innovation Park Web site

For more information, please contact Patrick Strickler at:
thebluewatersgroup@yahoo.com
1-877-851-4163