University of Missouri

The University of Missouri Technology Park at Fort Leonard Wood recently received national media attention.

The park was featured in The Slatin Report, a new web-based commercial real estate news and information service.

The Technology Park, a project of the University of Missouri system and the State of Missouri, is a 17-building, 62-acre business park within the gates of Fort Leonard Wood, the first business park on an active military post.

The report highlighted the park's purpose, progress and plans for future development.

The business and technology park solves the long-standing issue of where to station the contractors and suppliers who work with the military.

"Previously, companies would have to go into a retail space and convert it to office space," said Rich Finholt, executive director of the Office of Economic Development and Research Parks of the University of Missouri. "Providing office space on post brings them physically closer to their clients."

According to Finholt, the park offers military contractors the opportunity to do business in a convenient and safe atmosphere.

As the Army and other branches of the military have turned to private contractors over the last decade, demand for contractor-supported space has grown, he added.

The first of the project's buildings, with 18,000-square-feet of office space, is more than 50 percent occupied.

Developers predict an increase in demand for contractor-supported space as the government continues its trend towards privatization.

The business park's appeal may not be limited to geography. The park's support services are as much of an enticement to lease as the location, according to Stephen Pearson, a director of training at the High Tech Crime Institute, a technology park tenant.

"The technology park is really more like a small business incubator. As a start-up company, I would have had to procure business equipment and hire administrative help," said Pearson. "The office park provided copiers, telephones, internet service, centralized printing and secretarial support. Locating on post was more cost effective than leasing business space in one of the surrounding communities," he said.

"The more activity there is on post, the greater the need for our kind of office space," Finholt said.

Current tenants of the park include engineering and technology firms such as Battelle, High Tech Crime Institute, Sentel Corporation and Camber. Other tenants include the Fort Leonard Wood Regional Commerce and Growth Association and a liaison office for the University of Missouri-Rolla. For more information, call 329.8507

(Spc. Tremeshia Ellis, of the GUIDON staff contributed to this article.)