FORT LEONARD WOOD - Calling it "a new milestone" in a process than began four years ago, Missouri Gov. Bob Holden was among the dignitaries who signed the agreement P! the University of Missouri Technology Park at a ceremony Monday at the Bruce C. Clarke Library on Fort Leonard Wood.
"Springing from cooperation between the U.S. Army, the Missouri Department of Economic Development and the University of Missouri system, this new $4 million research park will provide exciting new opportunities for new scientific discovery, entrepreneurial activity and military excellence," Holden said.
Holden pointed out that the technology park will be the only research park on an active military base. "It is quite an innovative concept," he said.
"However, private companies, public agencies and organizations will be allowed to locate here."
Holden said one of the park's major functions will be to enhance Missouri's standing in the life-sciences field.
"Dynamic efforts in the life sciences are going on all over the state," Holden said. "In Kansas City, there is a strong medical focus, at places like the Stowers Institute. In St. Louis, the main emphasis lies in the plant sciences, involving such institutions as the Danforth Center Plant Science Center, Monsanto, the Missouri Botanical Gardens and Washington University."
And, Holden said, "the University of Missouri serves as a major link that binds the life sciences together through its campuses in Columbia, Rolla, St. Louis and Kansas City."
The new technology park, Holden said, "constitutes the third leg of Missouri's life-sciences triangle. Along with the plant sciences and the medical sciences, this is the environmental component of the equation that completes the triad."
Expressing his wish for the park to take the lead in environmental research, Holden pointed out that Missouri's life-sciences industry makes up 5 percent of the state's gross product, and that more than 100 life-science companies are located in Missouri.
These industries, Holden said, have created more than 111,000 jobs, and job growth in the field has remained steady over the past six years.
The governor called upon Missourians to use the technology park and other means to make the state the leader in life-sciences research.
Holden said states with strong life-sciences research programs, and that effectively transfer technology into the private sector, "discover they have more start-up companies, a more abundant supply of the kind of highly skilled employees that business wants, and more of those high-wage jobs that benefit all of us."
Also signing the agreement were Rep. Bill Ransdall, D-Waynesville; Maneuver Support Center Commanding General Maj. Gen. Anders B. Aadland and Dr. Manuel T. Pacheco, president of the University of Missouri system.
Ransdall thanked not only Holden but the late Gov. Mel Carnahan as well for his efforts in bringing the park into existence. He also thanked U.S. Army Chief of Engineers Lt. Gen. Robert B. Flowers, Aadland, and Missouri Sen. John T. Russell, R-Lebanon.
Aadland said he was impressed by how close the reality of the park is to the original vision that was created four years ago. "That's because the vision was a good one," Aadland said.
Pacheco praised the area's government, business and educational sectors for their cooperation in making the park a reality.
The signing of the agreement enables the partners to complete negotiations for the funding, development and operation of the park. The Army will lease the university 62 acres of land on Fort Leonard Wood.
Plans for the park include more than 400,000 square feet of space for research, office, educational and manufacturing facilities in 17 buildings.
Design of the first building in the park is under way, and construction is scheduled to begin this summer.
