Facebook’s Prineville, OR data center

By Bill Trüb
From the March/April 2013 issue

Data centers are crucial to operations across countless sectors, from retail to information technology, government to biotech, logistics to engineering. Many consumers, however, have little awareness or understanding of just how massive and expensive these facilities are. Large-scale data centers are known to use the amount of electricity equivalent to small towns and, despite many greening initiatives, some centers release a significant amount of air pollution in the form of diesel exhaust. Furthermore, the amount of security necessary to run a successful data center is enormous due to the highly sensitive information and pricey equipment housed in such storage units. So high are these stakes that the Telecommunications Industry Association has even published a document detailing the minimum requirements for the infrastructure of data centers and computer rooms.

But the business of IT is one that changes quickly. The International Data Corporation claims the average data center is nine years old, which is troubling when coupled with research company Gartner’s assertion that data centers more than seven years old are obsolete. In May 2011, Uptime Institute reported that 36 percent of large companies will exhaust their IT capacities within the next 18 months. Yet according to a “Green Data Centers” report by Pike Research,the global market for green data centers segment of the industry is expected to more than double in size in the next four years. It can be overwhelming to try and keep abreast of these fast-moving, ever-changing, air-conditioned rooms of priceless information.

Greene And The Greening Of Data Centers

In an effort to reduce the shocking levels of diesel exhaust that many data centers emit into the atmosphere, the industry is being proactive in finding environmentally sound operating solutions. Aptly-named Nicholas Greene, writer for www.greendatacenterconference.com, penned “Ten of the Biggest Data Center Trends” at the tail end of 2012. Let’s recap a few of his most notable prognostications.

“Cloud Computing’s still got a long way to go before it’s the world-changing behemoth that everyone predicts it will be, but this year saw more and more organizations finding their way to cloud computing, and loving every moment of it,” writes Greene. “Hybrid clouds took off, and Infrastructure-as-a-Service, Software-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service vendors really came into their own. Unfortunately, the great strides cloud computing made this year are going to have some unfortunate side-effects in the near future. Moving forward; scalability is going to be a huge concern: our current data center infrastructure, powerful as it is, might not be able to handle the increased demands of the cloud.”

Greene continues, “2012 also witnessed the birth of the software defined data center. As a direct result of this, we’ve been seeing an increased focus on virtualization with the configuration of the data center’s hardware dealt with by upper-level software. Software Defined Networking, though still in its nascent stages, has the very real potential to revolutionize the way data centers are operated, with new options for resource optimization, availability, storage, and mobility.”

According to Greene, the push for eco-sensitive options has been a success. “The environment has been getting a lot of love from data center operators this year,” he says. “We’ve been seeing a massive shift towards green computing throughout 2012, with big names such as Apple and Microsoft hopping on the environmental friendliness train. The looming threat of global warming, coupled with the obvious energy savings one accrues as a result of green initiatives (not to mention the good press an organization can receive) have combined to make green IT a near-integral part of data center design.”

Greene gives us the word of the year: “Server racks are becoming denser and denser as many organizations consolidate their data centers in order to save on energy and real-estate costs. Consolidation is the word of the year, as data centers grow smaller and more powerful and energy management turns from a good idea to an integral discipline for data center operation.”

And finally, openness and transparency is where the industry is headed, led by kingpins Facebook and Google. “In April 2011, Facebook founded the Open Compute Project—an initiative which I’m sure that many initially took as a very bad April Fool’s Joke. It wasn’t—and it’s been gaining steam ever since,” asserts Greene. “The notion that data centers should be defined by their software infrastructure rather than their physical hardware seemed novel at the time, but Facebook has demonstrated that it’s got real value. Even organizations that are typically secretive to the point of paranoia, such as Google, have loosened up a bit, giving us some insight into the inner workings of some of their facilities. Maybe one day in the future, Facebook’s ideals will pay off, and we’ll be rewarded with true transparency in data center operations.”

Google Searches, Hits On South Carolina

Speaking of such Internet giants, Google held a groundbreaking ceremony in January in Berkeley County, SC to announce it will expand its operations at the Mt. Holly Commerce Park. The additional $600 million in investment at the site brings Google’s total investment to more than $1.2 billion. The data center in Berkeley County currently houses thousands of servers to support services such as Google search, Gmail, Google+ and YouTube. As Google’s services grows, the company must ramp up its data centers to meet demand.

Google’s data center in Berkeley County, SC. Google is using the rainwater retention pond as another means for cooling its data center.

“Today’s announcement is another big win for South Carolina,” says Governor Nikki Haley. “We celebrate Google’s decision to grow its footprint in Berkeley County with a $600-million investment. When a world-class company like Google decides to expand in the Palmetto State, it shows we are providing the sort of business environment that helps foster success.” Many states aggressively pursue data center business through various tax incentives because data centers are often a boon for local economies.

“South Carolina and the Berkeley County community are great places in which to work and grow,” says Data Center Operations Manager Eric Wages. “When Google first announced plans to come to Berkeley County in 2007, we were attracted to not only the energy infrastructure, developable land and available workforce, but also the extraordinary team from the local community that made us feel welcome. Today’s announcement is just a continuation of our investment in the state. Google is proud to call Berkeley County home.”

Google first announced plans for a South Carolina data center in 2007, making an initial investment of $600 million to get the center up and running. In November 2010, Google announced plans to construct a second building at the site, which is now serving traffic.

Google is also involved in supporting science and mathematics programs in South Carolina’s schools. Since 2008, it has awarded more than $885,000 in grants to local schools and nonprofits. It also has helped implement a free, downtown Wi-Fi network in Goose Creek.

“Google has been a great partner, exceeding expectations when the data center was first proposed,” says Berkeley County Supervisor Dan Davis. “They have invested capital, created good jobs and more importantly partnered with local businesses to help them do business better.”

“When our community came together to develop this business park, we wanted to attract leading companies that would establish deep roots and grow,” says South Carolina Sen. Paul Campbell. “Google’s expansion is an example of how Berkeley County can serve the needs of the world’s most innovative and dynamic companies. I hope Google’s growth here prompts other growing businesses to put down roots.”

Facebook ‘Likes’ Oregon

Facebook stores more than 240 billion photos, with users uploading an additional 350 million new photos every single day. To house those photos, Facebook’s data center team deploys 7 petabytes of storage gear every month. But what do you do with an exabyte of digital photos that are rarely accessed? That was the challenge facing Jay Parikh, Vice President of Infrastructure Engineering at Facebook.

The team decided a dedicated data center at its Prineville, OR campus could house older photos in a separate “cold storage” system and would dramatically slash the cost of storing and serving these files. The facility has no generators or UPS systems, but can house up to an exabyte of data.

Last year, Facebook built a 62,000-square-foot data center on its Prineville campus to house its cold storage, which can house 500 racks that each hold 2 petabytes of data, for a total of 1 exabyte of cold storage. Similar facilities will be built at Facebook’s data center campuses in North Carolina and Sweden, Parikh said.

The cold storage data center has no generators or uninterruptible power supply (UPS), with all redundancy handled at the software level. It also uses computer room air conditioners (CRACs) instead of the penthouse-style free cooling system employed in the adjacent production data centers in Prineville.

Most importantly, each rack uses just 2 kilowatts of power instead of the 8 kilowatts in a standard Facebook storage rack. But Parikh said it will be able to store 8 times the volume of data of standard racks. Not many companies face storage challenges at the kind of scale seen at Facebook. But Parikh believes more companies will be confronting these massive storage issues.

“Our big data challenges that we face today will be your big data challenges tomorrow,” he says. “We need to keep coming up with advanced solutions to our storage problems. The most important innovations are the problems people solve before the scale of the problem emerges. I believe big data is one of those problems. And we won’t keep up unless we work together.”

Facebook completed a second huge data center on its campus in Prineville, Oregon in 2012. The facility is similar to its existing 300,000-square-foot data center, Facebook Data Center Manager Ken Patchett announced at a Prineville City Council meeting.

“We believe the construction of the phased expansion of Building 2, and the operation of Building 1, staffing and supplying of the Prineville Data Center will continue to have a positive impact on the Crook County-Prineville economy,” Patchett told the city officials.

The second building in Prineville created up to 450 construction jobs, with the project lasting approximately one year. At the time, Facebook said it would add 10 full-time jobs in Prineville, where it currently employs 54 full-time employees providing building maintenance, security and server maintenance. The Prineville project is Facebook’s first company-built facility, and is optimized from the two-story structure right down to the servers to reflect the company’s vision for energy efficient data center operations.

CoreSite Realty Picks NJ

CoreSite Realty has purchased a 280,000-square-foot building in Secaucus, NJ for a new data center, and expects to invest $65 million to buy the facility and redevelop the initial phase of 65,000 square feet of data center space.

The facility, which will be dubbed NY2, is the company’s first data center in New Jersey and a sign of continuing activity in the northern NJ market. CoreSite already has a site in New York City and the Secaucus facility will mark an important expansion for the provider.

CoreSite is under contract to acquire the building, with the acquisition expected to close in early February. The 280,000-square-foot facility sits on 10 acres of land, which allows additional data center development as the market demands. At full build out, CoreSite expects it will offer 19 critical megawatts of capacity. Construction will start in Q1 2013, with turn-key capacity expected to be available in Q4 2013.

CoreSite intends to ensure the availability of high-capacity and high-speed lit services as well as a robust dark-fiber tether between NY2 and CoreSite’s NY1 location at 32 Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan, enabling CoreSite to provide seamless interconnection across its New York campus.

The company has been aggressively building out data center campuses across America. Focusing on network centric and cloud oriented applications, these data center campuses are network-dense.

“CoreSite’s entry into Secaucus is an important step in the execution of our strategy to extend our U.S. platform supporting latency-sensitive customer applications in network-dense, cloud-enabled data center campuses,” says Tom Ray, President and Chief Executive Officer, CoreSite. “Our New York campus is designed to meet performance-sensitive customer requirements supported by our location at the nexus of robust, protected, low-latency network rings serving Manhattan as well as global cable routes to Chicago, Frankfurt, London, and Brazil. Additionally, customers are able to connect directly to service nodes for Amazon Web Services Direct Connect.”

The Secaucus facility follows the launch of CoreSite’s previously announced 15 data center, located in Reston, VA. CoreSite’s national platform spans nine US markets and includes more than 275 carriers and service providers and more than 15,000 interconnections.

The availability of direct connections to high speed networks in NY2 will be of particular interest to financial firms looking to reduce latency and improve performance. Three network service providers have pre-committed to serve NY2, consisting of CoreSite partners Sidera Networks, Zayo, and Seaborn Networks, each of which provides high-performance network support to the financial services, cloud and network communities.

“The new CoreSite data center in New Jersey fits perfectly with Sidera’s growth strategy,” says Clint Heiden, President, Sidera Networks. “This expansion gives CoreSite customers immediate access to over 40 financial exchanges and the Sidera Xtreme Ultra-Low Latency Network.”

In addition to the new facility, the company also announced an Open Cloud Exchange, an initiative looking to offer a range of cloud services to customers. The Exchange will offer best-of-breed partnerships and services from a broad range of providers. It capitalizes on demand for hybrid infrastructures, letting Enterprises, Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and Systems Integrators (SIs) in CoreSite facilities connect directly, via a single resource, to the cloud service providers of their choice. This provides customers with flexible options to securely and easily connect to all types of cloud offerings.

“We’re building the industry’s premier home for cloud services,” says Jarrett Appleby, COO, CoreSite. “With networks—the oxygen for cloud services—as the foundation, adding the industry’s leading cloud providers will create best-in-class scalability, management, automation, software, and many-to-many exchange capability. The Open Cloud Exchange offers our customers enormous provider flexibility, guaranteed performance, real-time monitoring, and easy management of cloud infrastructure services.”

The initial four best-of-breed partners in Open Cloud Exchange are CENX, Rightscale, RiverMeadow Software and Brocade.

• CENX will provide its CENX Automated Ethernet Lifecycle Management software specially designed for CoreSite’s Open Cloud Exchange, enabling easy, single sign-on management of Layer 2 cloud infrastructure services and full MEF CE 2.0 compatibility.
• RightScale, will provide its platform for deploying and manage business-critical applications across public, private, and hybrid clouds. RightScale offers efficient configuration, monitoring, automation, and governance of cloud computing infrastructure and applications.
• RiverMeadow Software will deliver its automated cloud onboarding SaaS developed specifically for migrating servers and workloads into and between Carrier Service Provider Clouds.
• Brocade will provide the hardware infrastructure and switching logic at the heart of the Open Cloud Exchange.

Planned future enhancements include the ability to connect to providers across multiple CoreSite locations within the same metro area; connections between customers and providers in various on-net buildings throughout the country; and the Choice between numerous software and services providers to support performance sensitive customer applications through a marketplace portal. The service is available immediately in seven campuses: Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, New York, Northern Virginia, Boston, and Washington, DC.

In addition to this monster of a facility from CoreSite, Northern New Jersey has been no stranger to activity these last few months. Internap announced a 100,000-square-foot project in Secaucus last October, its third in the NY Metro region, to address growing demand. With its supply of data center space in northern New Jersey running low, Digital Realty recently announced construction in Clifton.

Apple Blossoms In NC

Apple currently is building huge new data centers in three states, including the North Carolina iDataCenter. Meanwhile, it is leasing large quantities of data center space in California’s Silicon Valley.

Many of the largest cloud computing providers opted to lease new Internet infrastructure in 2012, according to new data from a veteran market watcher. The report highlights the shifting tides in the “buy or build” decision, in which geography and market economics are contributing to a two-tier infrastructure for many of the largest Internet players, with footprints split between company-built data centers and wholesale space.

Apple, Facebook and Microsoft were among the largest consumers of turn-key “wholesale” data center space in 2012, according to Jim Kerrigan, Director of the Data Center Group at Avison Young. Microsoft leased 12 megawatts of new wholesale space in 2012, with Facebook (10 megawatts) and Apple (8 megawatts) not far behind.

The trend is notable because all three companies have recently been building their own massive data center facilities. Facebook has 1.5 million square feet of data center space that is either built or nearing completion, while Apple has finished its huge iDataCenter in North Carolina and is building new facilities in Oregon and Nevada. Microsoft has built its own server farms in seven sites around the U.S. and Europe over the past 5 years.

After years of building huge data centers in remote areas, in 2012 the geographic focus shifted back to historic Internet hubs in northern Virginia, Silicon Valley and Chicago. Apple and Facebook have moved armadas of servers to rural locations in North Carolina and Oregon that offer cheap power and cheap land. Cloud builders will continue to do this going forward, but a portion of their infrastructure must always be housed near the Internet’s key intersections, where they can connect with dozens of other networks. Both land and power are more expensive in these Internet hubs, resulting in different economics for large-scale new construction. That’s why the largest wholesale data center providers have a large presence in these markets.

General Motors Gets Specific In Georgia

General Motors announced plans to hire approximately 1,000 high-tech workers to staff its new Information Technology Innovation Center near Atlanta. The automaker needs software developers, project managers, database experts, business analysts and other IT professionals for the third of four centers in the United States.

“Locating this center in Atlanta makes good business sense,” says GM Chief Information Officer Randy Mott. “We can draw from a deep pool of high tech expertise through the surrounding colleges, universities and talent residing in the area.”

“This Innovation Center is exactly the kind of employer we want in the state,” says Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal. “The information age will be with us for a long time, and attracting companies such as GM that are on the cutting edge of manufacturing and technology is a huge win for Georgia.”

Mott is leading a rebalancing of information technology at GM under which the majority of IT work will be done by GM employees instead of being outsourced, which has been the GM model for most of the last three decades.

“We look to the Innovation Centers to design and deliver IT that drives down the cost of ongoing operations while continuously increasing the level and speed at which innovative products and services are available to GM customers,” Mott says. “The IT Innovation Centers are critical to our overall GM business strategy and IT transformation.” The location of the fourth site will be announced at a later date.

Gartner’s View On Cloud Computing

Drue Reeves, Gartner’s Vice President and distinguished analyst, recently outlined five trends that will transform the data center industry for Computer Weekly. Reeves’ expert predictions focus heavily on cloud computing, which requires the use of computing resources (both hardware and software) that are delivered over a network, usually the Internet. The name comes from the use of a cloud-shaped symbol as an abstraction for the complex infrastructure it contains in system diagrams. Cloud computing entrusts remote services with a user’s data, software and computation. Here are Reeves’ five trends, in his own words, for the future of data centers.

• Hybrid IT: Perhaps the greatest effect of public cloud computing on IT concerns operations. IT organizations realize that not only do they need to compete with public cloud service providers (CSPs), but also act as intermediaries between internal customers and all IT services (internal or external). IT organizations are becoming brokers of a set of IT services hosted partly internally and partly externally — that is, of hybrid IT. As intermediaries, IT organizations can offer internal customers the price, capacity and provisioning speed of the external cloud, and the protection and security of the internal cloud.
• Internal clouds: When businesses grow accustomed to consuming IT as a service, IT organizations will be compelled to build internal clouds. Unfortunately, building an internal cloud is hard work and few blueprints exist. Although vendors are building products that will help customers build internal clouds, there is no turnkey solution. IT organizations will struggle to cobble together the necessary pieces to build internal clouds. Nevertheless, building them will be a key data center trend in 2012 because of the need to compete with external cloud computing.
• Hybrid clouds: Hybrid clouds are connections between two clouds, usually an internal private cloud and an external public cloud. They are constructed using software that enables applications and data to migrate more easily between clouds. For example, many applications depend on identity management systems to authenticate users, have gigabytes of data, and have input/output latency dependencies for storage. These attributes often prevent applications from migrating to the external cloud, but hybrid cloud solutions them in unique ways. For example, hybrid cloud software can enable WAN acceleration and VPN connections between clouds that allow IT organizations to keep application services and critical data in the internal cloud, and to move the workload itself to the public cloud. As IT budgets continue to shrink and capital resources remain scarce, hybrid clouds will become a more popular option for augmenting IT capacity and enabling disaster recovery than building another data center or signing a long-term outsourcing agreement.
• User-centric computing: To compete in a global market and retain key employees, organizations often have to accommodate staff who live in remote locations and use personal devices for work. Some organizations are attempting to radically reduce the operational expense of supporting numerous desktop devices for large groups of users with various application requirements. These needs create new challenges for IT organizations to secure data; back up data; support smaller, less functional devices; and support a broader range of devices. Therefore, many IT organizations are rethinking their desktop and mobility strategies and adopting a user-centric, rather than a device-centric, point of view.
• Data center efficiency: Competing with the external cloud requires IT organizations to strive for hyper-efficiency in their data centers. If critical data and applications are to be housed in an internal private cloud, IT organizations must deliver internal IT services in an efficient, cost-effective manner. This requires them to squeeze further costs out of their data centers by virtualizing as many applications as possible, using storage efficiency technologies such as data deduplication, and buying servers that enable them to maximize space and power and to consolidate applications.

The post FEATURE STORY: The Story Of Storage appeared first on Business Facilities.

By Business Facilities Staff

Each year, Business Facilities selects the organizations that have established and consistently executed the best practices in our industry, bringing measurable success in targeted economic development to the locations they represent.

We honor these organizations with our Economic Development Excellence Awards, which are earned by the overall performance of the organization on behalf of its location, and with a series of awards for specific Achievements in Economic Development for categories including achievements in targeted incentives, business retention, downtown revitalization, public- private partnerships and ports/FTZs. We also bestow our Achievement in New Media Award for Best Use of Video and Best Use of Social Media.

The finalists for our new overall Economic Development Excellence awards were asked to prepare a detailed submission that summarized the most productive project development in their locations and gave our us an overview of the economic development strategy they have deployed to ensure sustained long-term growth. The information provided included the top projects (initiated since the beginning of 2012), in terms of capital investment and job creation. These projects included new facilities, expansions, relocations or corporate headquarters. In their strategic narratives, finalists identified the growth sectors they’re targeting and described the specialized tools being deployed to achieve growth in these sectors. We encouraged them to specify their approach to workforce training, specialized incentives and the support they provide to the development of start-ups, small businesses and other entrepreneurial initiatives.

In assessing the candidates for our Excellence awards, we assessed the diversity and scope of the agency’s overall economic development program (in terms of the expansion of existing industries as well as the attraction of new ventures). Our Achievement Awards throw the spot- light on agencies and organizations that have established the best practices in their specified category.

And now, without further ado, here are the winners of our 2013 Economic Development Awards.

Population Greater Than 500k

Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance
The Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, through its CEO Council—and through its headquarters marketing and recruitment initiative—set a new standard of excellence in 2012 for the delivery of high-quality, effective economic development programs. These programs have resulted in substantial upward mobility for current and new Broward County residents, while providing substantial returns on investment to local municipal partners through the generation of new revenue as a result of capital investments.

In 2012, a national TV ad blitz continued to promote Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County’s strong business value proposition. The campaign, built on the tagline of “Life. Less Taxing,” aired for six months in the NY/NJ/CT, Boston and Chicago markets.

Key to the new marketing initiative was a CEO Council-sponsored hosting event for leading corporate real estate executives, site selection consultants and media outlets, which included a reception at Nova Southeastern University’s new $50-million Oceanographic Center.

The Greater Fort Lauderdale area continued to notch headquarters relocation and expansion success stories, including:

• Custom clothier Astor & Black moved to Pembroke Pines, creating 62 jobs in a $1.48-million capital investment over a three-year period. State and local incentives from Florida and the City of Pembroke Pines totaled $554,000, including $434,000 from the Qualified Target Industries Tax Refund Program and $80,000 from the Governor’s Quick Action Closing Fund
• SmartWater CSI, a UK forensic technology firm also established its North American Headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, and UK-based Private Jet Charter expanded its headquarters there.
• Connecticut-based Turbine Controls, Inc. (TCI) announced it is undertaking a $1.5-million expansion in Miramar, creating 60 jobs. TCI, an industry leader in air- craft engine component MRO services, will locate its facility at Miramar Park of Commerce.

There also were 23 other company relocations and expansions throughout Broward County in 2012, resulting in 1,669 new jobs, 1,689 retained jobs and more than $88 million in new capital investment. Highlights include the largest industrial spec development lease in the last five years in Broward County. AeroTurbine, the Miami-based aviation supply company is expanding to a new, 264,000-square-foot building in Miramar. The project offers a direct capital investment of $30 million dollars and will create 75 jobs.

Saveology’s move to Margate will add 700 jobs to its operation. The Internet company received a $2-million incentive package (tied to job-creation commitments) for its relocation to the 100,000-square-foot office. Stretch Wrap Packaging Industries, a manufacturer of plastic stretch wrap for the logistics industry, also has relocated to the Fort Lauderdale area from Suriname, South America; the company has committed to add 200 jobs over the next three years. The total foreign direct investment is $12 million.

The Alliance substantially expanded international business activities to raise the global footprint of Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County by taking an active and participatory role in Gov. Rick Scott’s missions to Brazil, Colombia and Spain, and a separate mission to Mexico, along with hosting and facilitating visits from Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Italy and the United Kingdom.

The Alliance has a strong partnership with Broward County’s Workforce One employment center, securing nearly $1 million state and local training assistance for 1,107 employees in local companies.

The Alliance supports the GrowFlorida program designed to provide both technical assistance and access to capital to second-tier, high-growth companies in the area; it also provided assistance to Broward College to establish a new business incubator to promote small business.

In 2012, the Alliance formed its first Port Everglades Action Team, led by CEO Council member Terry Stiles, to work with the business community to generate support in securing necessary state and federal funding for expansion projects in the county’s Port Everglades Master Plan. Port Everglades, the 12^th largest cargo port in the U.S. and one of the top cruise ports in the world, is embarking on three critical expansion projects that will create 7,000 new jobs regionally and support 135,000 jobs statewide over the next 15 years.

Throughout the year, a primary focus of the Alliance is assisting local companies succeed through its Business Retention and Visitation Outreach (BRAVO) program. In 2012, the Alliance visited 178 companies to assist with access to capital, workforce training opportunities, permitting issues and site location assistance.

Gaining Honorable Mention Awards in this category were Greater MSP (Minneapolis Saint Paul Regional Economic Development Partnership) and Columbus (OH) 2020.

Greater MSP launched in 2011 as a public-private partnership dedicated to accelerating job growth and capital investment in the 13-county regional MSA. Thanks in large part to Greater MSP’s efforts, the region now boasts the highest per capita concentration of Fortune 500 and large privately held corporate headquarters. The area also has the second-highest concentration in the U.S. of employment in its biotech sector, anchored by its world-class research institutions, including the Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota.

Columbus 2020 represents the 11-county region centered on Columbus OH, working in collaboration with JobsOhio and local partners to offer comprehensive services to companies evaluating the area. The organization has targeted development in growth sectors including logistics, international business, manufacturing, corporate headquarters and bioscience.

Population Between 200K-500K

Lincoln (NE) Partnership
Lincoln, NE is a community recognized around the nation for its aggressiveness in pursuit of new job creation opportunities. This effort is focused at the Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development. The primary service territory of the organization is Lancaster County and its primary focus is on Business Retention and Expansion (BR&E), Business Attraction, Entrepreneurship and Innovation (E&I) and Community Competitiveness.

In 2012, the Partnership completed 100 annual surveys of key businesses in the region; it is spearheading key workforce issues including the development of a career academy which will be a partnership between Lincoln Public Schools and Southeast Community College to provide career-based educated for juniors and seniors in the LPS District. The overall BR&E program brings together representatives of the City, the County, Lincoln Electric System, Black Hills Energy and the State of Nebraska. Most recently, the Lincoln WIB was brought into the group.

The Partnership works through a regional marketing consortium that includes regional communities, utilities and higher education institutions including the University of Nebraska.

The Partnership and the Chamber and Convention and Visitors Bureau recently launched a new community branding strategy called “Life is Right: that is targeting young executives, workers and entrepreneurs.

The E&I program has been the top priority for the Partnership over the past three years, focused on two significant programs:

• Innovation Connect brings the engineers and executives from manufacturers together with University of Nebraska researchers, promoting the use of UNL technology in Lincoln-based businesses.
• Health Care Connect was unveiled in 2012. The program asks local health care providers to identify problems they believe can be solved through new technology, and then forwards these challenges to Lincoln’s software community. After two months, a quick-pitch contest was held and the winning software proposal got a 120-day test period at the health care institution.

The Partnership sponsors numerous quick-pitch and business plan competitions, and it was a key facilitator of the area’s software angel fund, Nebraska Global, which helped launch five companies in 2011 and 2012. Nebraska Global has launched its fifth software company, Elite-Form, which is producing programs for recording, coaching and evaluating strength training. Prototypes now are being used at the University of Nebraska’s athletic department.

The Partnership helped spearhead a successful effort by the University of Nebraska to take over the former state fair grounds; $80 million is being invested on four new facilities to attract, expand and grow new companies. The first, announced in 2012, is ConAgra’s new facility and research agreement. When fully developed, the project is expected to add over 2,000 high-tech jobs to the community.

The Partnership is leading an effort to undertake a $2.5-million redevelopment of the Lincoln Airpark, a 1000-acre industrial park located on a former Air Force Base. The project is expected to generate more than 3,000 new manufacturing jobs in the city.

The largest project in the community’s history, the West Haymarket redevelopment project, was sup- ported financially by the Partnership through the passage of a bond issue that will construct a new 16,000-seat arena. Over $100 million in investments are expected to be made by concerns adjacent to the arena, which could generate over 1,000 new jobs, new retail and significant quality of life enhancements.

Cabela’s credit card operation has moved into its expanded space in northwest Lincoln. The company $7.2-million expansion is to create about 340 new jobs. Cabela’s site is part of Nebraska Technology Park.

Family-owned Duncan Aviation is undertaking a $25-million expansion including an 80,000-square-foot maintenance hangar, 95,000 square feet of office and shop space; the new facilities are scheduled to open in June 2014. Last year, Duncan Aviation opened an $11.5-million paint shop. When all of its projects are complete, Duncan will employ more than 1,300 people in the Lincoln area.

Receiving Honorable Mention Awards in the 200k-500k category are Brick City Development Corp., Commerce Lexington, Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce and Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce.

Brick City Development Corp. (BCDC) was formed in 2007 to be the primary economic development catalyst for New Jersey’s largest city, Newark. BCDC is focusing on industrial, technology and commercial growth sectors, putting New Jersey’s Urban Transit Hub Tax Credit to good use to secure capital investments of more than $50 million for large-scale renovation or new construction projects.

A key priority is revitalization and development of site in Port Newark, the nation’s third-largest port; the program has succeeded in closing a series of industrial deals covering 750,000 square feet of production space. Pacific Group Holdings, one of the world’s largest importers, brought its Northeast U.S. headquarters to Newark.

BCDC also is targeting food processing and distribution. Success stories include Bartlett Dairy, kosher food producer Manischewitz, Damascus Bakery and grocery store distributor Wakefern.

More than 90 biotech incubator start-ups are now up and running at the University Heights Science Park, a mixed-use technology park anchored by the city’s huge university cluster. A major French pharma research concern, Biotrial S.A., has purchased a 1.2-acre parcel in the tech park for a new facility.

Commerce Lexington scored a major coup in 2012 with its recruitment of Bingham McCutchen’s Global Services Center. Lexington was chosen after a site-selection competition which considered 350 cities across the U.S.

Commerce Lexington is one of three members in the Bluegrass Business Development Partnership (BBDP), which Lexington’s economic development team together the University of Kentucky and the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government in a coordinated program which serves as a one-stop service provider linking entrepreneurs with key programs and incentives to help them jump-start business initiatives.

In May 2011, Joplin, MO was devastated by one of the worst tornados in U.S. history. In the months before the tornado hit, Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce was spear- heading two new regional development initiatives, the Joplin Regional Prosperity Initiative (JRPI) and the Joplin Region Partnership (JRP). Even during the massive recovery effort undertaken after the storm (about 560 business facilities were destroyed by the tornado), these development efforts have continued to grow and bear positive results.

In the wake of the tornado, these efforts have created more than 1,800 jobs in Joplin area. The Joplin Tomorrow Fund was deployed to distribute more than $1 million in funding to restart two companies, expand four businesses and assist a new start-up. Today, more than 500 of the businesses directly impacted by the storm have reopened, retaining more than 4,500 jobs in Joplin that had been considered “at risk.” Jasper County, which includes Joplin, has been named Missouri’s first national ACT “Career Ready Certified” community (Missouri is one of only four state’s that have made it to ACT’s second round).

In 2012, Airbus selected Mobile for its first final assembly line in North America, an investment of $600 million that is expected to create at least 1,000 direct jobs. The Airbus decision already is spurring suppliers to put down roots in Mobile, including a recent new plant announcement from Labinal.

In 2012, the Mobile Area Chamber assisted more than 1,600 entrepreneurs in developing business plans, one-on-one counseling and access funding.

Population Between 50K-200K

Operation Oswego County
Operation Oswego County (OOC) is a private, non-profit organization that works to enhance, promote and protect the business and industrial climate of Oswego County. To achieve that goal, they provide comprehensive assistance to existing businesses and those seeking to relocate, whether they are developing a business plan, looking for the best site, or searching for financing or other assistance.

OOC’s primary objectives are to help create new job opportunities, retain employment, build a broader real property tax base, diversify the economy and improve the area’s quality of life through a planned, organized and environmentally-friendly economic development process. They are guided by a board of directors made up of community-minded people from business, labor, education and government throughout Oswego County.

Coordinating and implementing special economic development initiatives allows OOC to enhance the potential to create and retain jobs. They operate three industrial parks in Oswego County—the Oswego County Industrial Park in Schroeppel, the Airport Industrial Park in Volney and the Lake Ontario Industrial Park in the city of Oswego—with other sites currently being studied for potential business parks.

The Start-up Facility in the Oswego County Industrial Park and the Business Expansion Center in the city of Oswego are designed to help non-retail, industrial and service businesses achieve significant growth and development during the first few years of business with the intention of eventually moving out of the building and into private commercial space.

OOC facilitates programs supporting entrepreneurship and small business development and growth including Women’s Network for Entrepreneurial Training, Connections Women’s Symposium, Next Great Idea Business Plan Competition and Workforce Development. The businesses obtain Minority and Women Business Enterprises state designation and are authorized to finance projects using the SBA 504 loan program which can fund up to 40 percent of fixed asset financing for eligible businesses at below market rates.

Oswego County is experiencing a growth spurt in the food processing sector. Over the last year, three companies have purchased existing facilities and are expanding their food processing ventures into Oswego County. Champlain Valley Specialty is renovating and expanding a former onion packing site into an apple processing facility. The $5.5 million project will create approximately 90 jobs. Teti Bakery USA plans to renovate a 200,000-square-foot building in Volney, using about 40,000 square feet of it as a bakery for its Italian flat breads. The Canadian company will create 63 jobs with the $5 million investment.

Our Honorable Mention Award in this category goes to Peoria Economic (AZ) Development. Peoria is taking an aggressive approach toward business attraction by creating partnerships focused on targeted industries including bioscience, health care and renewable energy.

The top 10 projects in Peoria in 2012 included a $75-million investment in Trine University Peoria Campus, a development which will create more than 1,200 direct jobs; a partnership between the city and BioAccel to create the Bioinspire Medical Device Incubator, including six start-up companies; and Genome Identification Corp.’s relocation of its forensics lab from Virginia to Peoria, where the company will continue to develop its proprietary DNA analysis technology.

Population Less Than 50K

City of Rochester (NH)
The City of Rochester has an independent and focused attraction program unique to the goals and objectives of each Targeted Industry Initiative.

The program for Advanced Manufacturing is based on input from the existing manufacturers and includes introductions and referrals as well as industry and trade publications and trade shows. Once a business has interacted with the development program, they may offer a testimonial on the www.thinkrochester.biz website, and may refer vendors and suppliers. The Retail/Hospitality strategy is based on data from the University of Shopping Centers Economic Development Program by the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). The city contracted with the Buxton Company to develop a comprehensive retail assessment and analysis to support the commercial districts and the attraction of private developers and retailers. That research supports the trade shows and targeted retail and hospitality efforts of the city.

Rochester partnered with the Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Planning at Northeastern University to complete a competitive analysis focused on infrastructure, local policy, planning and other factors established by NAIOP. This report led to infrastructure and policy improvements, and as part of this continuing emphasis, the city reorganized all the development related departments, creating the Community Development Division. The city is considering locating all of the staff in a modern and efficient “one-stop” center to improve efficiency.

The Back Office/Call Center effort involves the owners of the major office buildings and office parks in the city to do collaborative marketing and research. The Medical/Health Care program is based on a strong relationship with the city’s major medical center and other health care partners. They utilize community listening posts that included all of the major employers to discuss health care demands and anticipated impacts of changes to health care and insurance requirements.

Strategic Action items now on the agenda for Rochester’s economic development program include: Establishment of the Granite Ridge Commercial District; Expansion of the Granite State Business Park, Establishment of incentives including Tax Increment Financing, Establish a Downtown Revitalization Organization (Rochester is one of 10 NH communities Certified by the National Trust for Historic Preservation); and Implement a Business Retention and Expansion Plan.

Albany Engineered Composites and Safran USA have partnered for a $100 million state of the art aerospace composites facility on a 50-acre site in Granite Business State Park. They will add approximately 500 employees with a payroll of more than $30 million annually to produce LEAP-X engines, which incorporate green technology while retaining aviation power. The local economic development office for Rochester, NH led the Recruitment Team for the project, and persevered during a two year selection and negotiation process, managing a complex package of deliverables. The ultimate key to success was the team being small, talented and committed, and support from the State Department of Resources and Economic Development, the NH Business Finance Authority and Governor John Lynch.

Construction of a 57-acre, 330,000-square-foot marketplace that could bring up to 800 jobs in the Granite Ridge Development District is also under development. In addition, the City of Rochester recently issued a $100,000 JOB Loan (its biggest ever) to the young firm, LHR Sporting Arms, LLC so that they can begin hiring employees.

The city has created two Tax Increment Financing Districts with a third in process, to expand the municipal infrastructure to industrial and commercial zones. The city has adopted three NH Economic Revitalization Zones, offering corporate tax credits to qualifying businesses. The City has two HUB Zones through SBA, and is a New Market Tax Credits eligible community. The city is working with the NH Foreign Trade Zone Program to consider expansion of an existing zone to Rochester.

The city has a Special Downtown Business District with an expedited approval process to encourage adaptive reuse. Also in Downtown, the city has adopted the property tax credit program 79e enabling real estate investors in the District to recoup their investment over five to 13 years before a tax increase. The city created a Sign & Façade Matching Grant to encourage investment into exterior improvements, even on a small scale. Rochester also has a revolving loan fund capitalized at $600,000 from Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). This program has created more than 300 jobs over the last ten years in manufacturing, hospitality and service industries, including start-ups. City staff provides one on one support for business plans, application process and follow up.

Honorable Mention Awards in the Population Less than 50K category went to Jackson County Industrial Development Corp. and Ponca City, OK.

In April 2012, Cummins-Seymour announced it will invest $219 in a new engine plant in Jackson County, IN, creating 290 new jobs. Jackson County Industrial Development Corp., which is based in Seymour, also scored a local success with Valeo Sylvania’s decision to invest $28 million in an expansion of their Seymour facility (creating 187 new jobs) and Aisin U.S.A. Manufacturing’s announcement that it will undertake a $21-million expansion of its two Seymour facilities (114 new jobs). Additionally, Seymour Tubing is putting about $20 million into expanded workspace and new equipment.

The top five projects in Ponca City, OK in 2012 totaled $78 mil- lion in capital investment. The largest capital investment in Ponca was made by Phillips 66, which is putting $50 million into an upgrade of its alkaline units, a lift station at its South Plant and equipment upgrades throughout it complex. Mertz Manufacturing, an oil and gas concern, completed a new $12 million facility on an 80-acre site. Dorada Foods, a chicken processor and supplier to McDonald’s restaurants, is preparing to add a new production line with upgraded equipment. The project is expected to create 75 new jobs.

Two companies new to the Ponca area were drawn to the location due to new oil drilling and the general resurgence in the oil and gas sector in Oklahoma spurred by fracking operations extracting natural gas/ Dawson Geophysical brought 85 jobs to their new office in Ponca City; Crescent Services, an independent oilfield support service and management company, established a satellite office in the city.

Business Facilities congratulates all of the well-deserved winners of our 2013 Economic Development Excellence Awards.

Achievement In Targeted Incentives

When we launched our annual Economic Development Awards two years ago, there was one category for which we knew the podium would be crowded when it came time to call up the winners. Every year, there are dozens of new incentives programs to consider for our Achievement in Targeted Incentives Award. This year was no exception and, as always, it was difficult to narrow the field. Here are the four winning programs that meet our criteria for an innovative effort to snare new projects for a targeted growth sector:

The widespread use of hydraulic fracturing drilling techniques to extract an abundant supply of natural gas from shale formations in the U.S. is transforming the economies of several states, especially in the region that includes the Marcellus formation (stretching from Ohio through Pennsylvania and into upstate New York). The fracking boom itself has become a development magnet, so it shouldn’t be surprising that state economic development agencies are beginning to tailor targeted incentives related to natural gas resources.

Pennsylvania has jumped ahead of the curve with its PA Resource Manufacturing Tax Credit (PRM).

Beginning in 2017, any manufacturer purchasing natural gas containing ethane as a petrochemical feedstock at a facility within the Commonwealth could be eligible for a PRM Tax Credit equal to five cents per gallon ($2.10 per barrel) of ethane purchased and used in manufacturing ethylene, so long as the company makes a capital investment of at least $1 billion and creates the equivalent of at least 2,500 full-time jobs while constructing the facility.  This credit is effective for ethane purchased between Jan. 1, 2017 and Dec. 31, 2042.

Thanks in part to the health care reforms enacted in Washington in 2010, employment in the health care sector is expected to outpace national averages in coming years. Anticipating this, Mississippi has structured an incentive which throws down a welcome mat for health-care providers to come to the Magnolia State.

The Mississippi Health Care Industry Zone Incentive Program was enacted in 2012 to encourage health care-related businesses to locate or expand in the state. The program benefits medical services providers and other health care-related businesses, such as those engaged in medical supply, biologics, laboratory testing, medical product manufacturing/distribution and diagnostic imaging that locate in a qualified Health Care Zone in the state. Health Care Zones are defined as areas where there are three contiguous counties which have Certificates of Need for more than 375 acute care hospital beds—the business must locate or expand within a five-mile radius of a health care facility with a Certificate of Need and/or areas located within five miles of a hospital that will be constructed before July 1, 2017, with a minimal capital investment of $250 million.

Qualifying businesses are eligible to receive an accelerated, 10-year state income tax depreciation deduction, a sales tax exemption for equipment and materials purchased from the date of the project’s certification until three months after the facility is completed, and a 10-year ad valorem tax exemption.

Workforce training remains a top priority across the nation, and we’re impressed with an initiative in Florida that targets incumbent workers to enable companies to maintain their competitive edge and retain employees.

The Incumbent Worker Training Program (IWT) provides training to currently employed workers to keep Florida’s workforce competitive in a global economy and to retain existing businesses. The program is available to all Florida businesses that have been in operation for at least one year prior to application and require skills upgrade training for existing employees. Priority is given to businesses in targeted industries, Enterprise Zones, HUB Zones, Inner City Distressed areas, Rural Counties and areas, and Brownfield areas.

The program provides funding for training to existing for-profit businesses. IWT grants are structured to be flexible to meet the business’s training objectives. The business may use a public or private training provider, or may use an in-house training provider based on the nature of the training.

Through June 2012, Workforce Florida awarded 230 IWT grants totaling more than $6.1 million to help companies train and retain more than 12,000 full-time employees. Trainees’ wages have increased more than 25 percent on average within a year of completing IWT-supported training.

Funding priority in the Incumbent Worker Training Program is given to businesses with 25 or fewer employees that is located in a distressed rural area, urban inner city or Enterprise Zone. The business should be part of a targeted sector whose grant proposals represent a significant layoff-avoidance strategy.

Recent announcements from Louisiana make it clear that the Bayou State is emerging as leading high-tech hub. Louisiana is moving quickly to capitalize on this trend and maximize its impact.

The Technology Commercialization Credit and Jobs Program provides a 40 percent refundable tax credit (not to exceed $250,000) on costs related to the commercialization of Louisiana technology and a 6 percent payroll rebate for the creation of new direct jobs.

The Tax Credit Incentive is open to individuals or businesses that invest in the commercialization of Louisiana technology in Louisiana. The technology must be created by a Louisiana business and researched by a Louisiana university or college. A company must submit the completed Technology Commercialization Eligibility Application and fee. The eligibility application should include a description of technology to be commercialized; an agreement with a university; a business plan; an estimate of commercialization cost, number of new jobs, wages and health benefits created. Eligibility application is due by December 31 of the year the company is seeking tax credits.

Achievement In Business Retention

New Jersey Partnership for Action; Metro Denver Economic Dev. Corp.
We are honoring two organizations this year with our Achievement in Business Retention Award: the New Jersey Partnership for Action and Metro Denver Economic Development Corp.

When Gov. Chris Christie took office in 2010, he made it a top priority to change the negative perception of NJ’s business climate by initiating one of the most comprehensive reorganizations of statewide economic developments we’ve seen in a long time. The new structure consists of three highly-focused organizational elements, all under the umbrella of the Partnership for Action—Choose New Jersey, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, and the Business Action Center—that provide economic development services, link companies to incentive programs and attract international investment to others.

Armed with NJ’s innovative Urban Transit Hub Tax Credit, the Partnership for Action has achieved notable success in its business retention efforts, including deals that kept Panasonic’s headquarters in the state and spurred Prudential to commit to a new HQ building in the heart of Newark.

NJ has used the forward-thinking transit hub credit as a financial tool to spur private capital investment, business development and employment by providing tax credits for businesses planning a large expansion or relocating to one of New Jersey’s designated Urban Transit Hubs.

The program offers developers, owners or tenants up to 100 percent of a qualified capital investment made within an eight period. Taxpayers may apply 10 percent of the total credit amount per year over a ten-year period against their corporate business tax, insurance premiums tax or gross income tax liability. Developers or owners must make a minimum $50 million capital investment in a single business facility, and at least 250 full-time employees must work at that facility. Tenants in a qualified business facility can represent at least $17.5 million of the capital investment in the facility, and up to three tenants may aggregate to meet the 250 employee requirement.

The Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation (Metro Denver EDC), an affiliate of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, was one of the nation’s first regional economic development entities. Its partners include 70 cities, counties, and economic development organizations in the seven-county Metro Denver and two-county Northern Colorado region. Metro Denver EDC works to create a competitive environment that attracts companies and is backed by the region’s business community, with primary funding coming from private-sector investors, as well as participating cities and counties. Strategic initiatives are developed among the partners, with final decision-making authority by an investor board of directors.

From energy to aerospace, to bioscience, information technology-software and financial services, Metro Denver offers a diversified economy of viable industries and the nation’s third-most highly educated workforce. Metro Denver is first among the 50 largest metros for total private aerospace workers, with 19,600 people employed at aerospace companies. Colorado has the nation’s second-largest aerospace economy and is home to four military commands, eight major space contractors, and more than 400 aerospace companies and suppliers. Denver International Airport and three reliever airports create a solid foundation for 15,910 workers directly employed by aviation companies.

Ten Metro Denver higher education institutions with bioscience programs and numerous bioscience research assets support the region’s bioscience industry. The industry also is enhanced by the opportunities to bring together academic, research, and corporate biotechnology institutions at the 578-acre, $5-billion Fitzsimons Life Science District and the adjacent Anschutz Medical Campus.

Metro Denver’s Mountain Time Zone location makes it the largest U.S. region with one-bounce satellite uplinks, providing companies real-time connections to six of seven continents. With a broad mix of broadcasting and telecommunications firms, the region ranks sixth out of the 50 largest metros for employment concentration in this growing sector.

The integration of cleantech and Colorado’s rich energy resource base places the Metro Denver region at the forefront of energy development. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden is the U.S. Department of Energy’s laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency R&D.

The Metro Denver region also is one of the few areas outside of the Northeast with a substantial financial services industry in three key market segments. A variety of trade associations and service firms support the diverse financial services industry base of more than 13,020 companies and 87,750 employees in the region.

Achievement In Downtown Revitalization

Indianapolis Downtown, Inc./Indianapolis
This year’s Achievement in Downtown Revitalization Award goes jointly to Indianapolis Downtown Inc. and the Indy Partnership for their continued success in making Indiana’s largest city a winning combination of business-friendly growth and exceptional quality of live. While progress has been notable in the past year, this award also honors a body of work that stretches back two decades.

Downtown Indianapolis has been transformed into a vibrant 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week urban center over the past two decades. Businesses have taken note and are flocking to the city.

Cities across the country look to Downtown Indianapolis as a revitalization model. Since 1990, Indianapolis has invested nearly $9 billion of public and private funds equaling more than 485 projects through 2011. This is an average of more than $408 million of new investment each year, for the past 22 years.

Even in a tough economy, Downtown development momentum continues with $3 billion of new construction and renovation efforts to be completed by 2017.

More people continue to come Downtown on a regular basis. Annual attendance at major Downtown leisure attractions has increased by 83 percent since 1994 to 8 million visits. Surveys of Central Indiana residents show 79 percent of Marion County residents visited Downtown in a six-month period, up from 47 percent in 1994.

Businesses are taking note, and they are flocking to the city. Rolls Royce last year moved 2,500 employees to Downtown Indy. Economic studies show spending by the company and its employees is expected to boost the Downtown economy by $510 million each year.

Three Fortune 1000 companies’ world or regional headquarters in Downtown Indianapolis continue their commitment through growth and expansion, including WellPoint, Inc. (32 new jobs), Eli Lilly and Company (122) and Simon Property Group (573).

NCAA recently completed a $40-million, 150,000 square-feet headquarters expansion; Simon Property Group, North America’s largest real estate investment trust, WellPoint, Inc., Emmis Communications, and Urban League of Indianapolis have all opened headquarters Downtown. Other Downtown headquarters include OneAmerica Financial Partners, Inc., Indiana University Health, Denison, Inc., Farm Bureau of Indiana, Regions Bank, The Indianapolis Star, Kite Realty Group, LDI, Ltd., National Association of High School Athletics, National Bank of Indianapolis, National Wine and Spirits Inc., Reilly Industries, Inc., and The Steak N Shake Company.

Achievement In Public-Private Partnership

Buffalo Niagara Enterprise; Upstate SC Alliance; Tucson (AZ) Regional Economic Opportunities
As more and more states decide to reconfigure their economic development operations from the traditional government-run structure to a public-private model, there are more entities to choose from when we make our annual pick of the best public-private programs. This year, we’ve selected three organizations as the co-winners of our Achievement in Public-Private Partnership Award.

Buffalo Niagara Enterprise (BNE) is a nonprofit, private business development and regional marketing organization dedicated to the proposition that, as a place “where life works,” the Buffalo Niagara region is the ideal place for businesses to locate, grow, and start-up.

The Buffalo Niagara region is comprised of eight counties that form the western-most end of New York State. The region is strategically located with in 500 miles of 40 percent of the continental North American population and is a bi-national gateway for commerce, facilitating $81 billion in annual trade between Canada and the United States.

BNE’s team includes local investors, a board of directors, economic development partners and professional staff. Since it was launched in 1999 by members of the local business community, BNE has succeeded in attracting more than $2.9 billion in capital investment and created or retained over 36,000 jobs in our region.

BNE provides services that run the gamut from demographic information to tax incentives to site identification. BNE acts as the central clearinghouse for the information and supporting services required by companies interested in locating and growing in our region. It provides market data and other information services relevant to business location decisions, including economic indicators, workforce information, industrial and commercial real estate information and customized business development data.

BNE also provides professional account management services, offering potential investors in our region a one-stop shop for information on economic development, and serving as a liaison with local economic development organizations.

Formed in 2000, the Upstate South Carolina Alliance is a public/private regional economic development organization designed to market the dynamic 10-county Upstate region to the world. The 10 counties represent the commerce-rich northwestern corner of SC.

The Upstate SC Alliance’s vision is to compete for business investment globally. The Alliance’s goal is to spearhead an aggressive, innovative and comprehensive global marketing strategy to attract new investment to the Upstate region. By creating a powerful brand and image for the region, Upstate SC Alliance is confident increased opportunities will ultimately lead to greater investment, enhancing the prosperity and quality of life for the entire Upstate. Funding for the Upstate SC Alliance comes through two sources: member counties/cities and private sector business partners. The Alliance’s private sector partners number more than 170 individual companies/organizations.

Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities, Inc. (TREO) was formed in 2005 to serve as the lead economic development agency for the greater Tucson, AZ area and its surrounding regional partners. The primary goal of TREO is to facilitate export-based (non-retail) job and investment growth, in order to increase wealth and accelerate economic prosperity throughout Southern Arizona. A secondary role is to shape policy and mobilize resources to ensure the region is competitive.

TREO engages in partnerships focusing on demonstrating leadership to strengthen education, create a vibrant downtown and engage in infrastructure improvements. To serve a population approaching one million residents, TREO offers an integrated approach of programs and services that support the creation of new businesses, the expansion of existing businesses within the region, and the attraction of companies that offer high wage jobs.

Achievement In Ports/FTZs

Philadelphia Regional Port Authority; El Paso, TX Foreign Trade Zone No. 68; Port of Mobile
We’ve only been bestowing our top honor for Achievement in Ports/FTZs for two years, but we already have our first back-to-back winner. We are pleased to grant this distinction to the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority. A co-winner of our port award is the Port of Mobile. El Paso International Airport’s Foreign Trade Zone No. 68 got our top honor for FTZs.

Philadelphia, one of the oldest and most venerable ports in the United States, continues to outshine the competition as it gears up to compete for what is anticipate to be a surge in new shipping next year.

Philadelphia’s harbor often was the point of arrival for the nation’s founding fathers when they emigrated from Great Britain in the early 1700s, but the port and the City of Brotherly Love are not resting on its laurels: the port is busy preparing to meet the challenges of 21st Century commerce, including an expansion of the Panama Canal that will see huge cargo ships arriving at East Coast ports directly from Asia beginning in 2014.

PRPA has renewed its MOU for the Panama Canal Authority and it has undertaken a channel-deepening project along the 102-mile Delaware River shipping lane. We also are impressed with PRPA’s ability to maintain and grow a thriving shipping hub while undertaking these improvements, evidenced by double-digit increases in cargo tonnage at the port in the past two years, despite a very challenging national and regional economy.

FTZ No. 68 is an integral part of El Paso’s regional and international investment strategy, providing a business platform for domestic and foreign trade to prosper in the region. The City of El Paso is the Grantee and Operator of Foreign-Trade Zone No. 68; it is administered through El Paso International Airport. The zone consists of 5 regional sites totaling 3,443 acres within El Paso County.

FTZ No. 68 has been ranked first in exports among U.S. General-Purpose Zones, ITA (2010). FTZ No. 68 is the only Grantee in the nation providing compliance and training services and one of only five Grantees with an Accredited Zones Specialist. FTZ No. 68 contributed to over 1,300 direct jobs to the El Paso economy in 2012, using innovative best practices in zone management and strategic alliances.

A recent economic impact study prepared by John C. Martin Associates, LLC, a leading maritime industry economic consulting firm, estimates $22.3 billion in total economic value for Alabama from the cargo and vessel activity at the Port of Mobile; of this value, $18.7 billion is directly tied to the Alabama State Port Authority’s (ASPA) public terminals. Martin’s study calculates between 55 and 65 million tons of cargo moves through the Port of Mobile annually.

In FY (Fiscal Year) 2011, there were 141,029 jobs in Alabama related to the cargo and vessel activity at the ASPA and the private terminals at the Port of Mobile, with 127,591 total direct, indirect, induced and related user jobs directly linked to ASPA’s operations. Martin concluded that the terminals at the Port of Mobile generated $573 million in direct, induced, indirect and related user taxes paid to state and local governments by individuals and firms dependent upon the Port of Mobile cargo and ship repair activity.

Achievement In New Media

BEST USE OF VIDEO

Saratoga Economic Development Corp.
SEDC is a perennial candidate for our top video award, consistently producing eye-pleasing and informative packages promoting the Saratoga, NY region. This year’s award-winner is a video entitled SEDC 35th Anniversary—Success Without Limits. The video is posted below. We encourage everyone to take a look at it and enjoy the presentation.

Our Honorable Mention Award in the Best Use of Video category went to Lubbock Economic Development Alliance (LEDA) for their informational video entitled Lubbock Economic Development Alliance – 2012 Forecast.

Each year, LEDA hosts an Economic Forecast luncheon for select members of the Lubbock, TX community. This video was used to highlight an entire year’s worth of work not only for LEDA, but also for Visit Lubbock (the convention and visitor’s bureau) and Lubbock Sports. This year’s video was created to appeal to a wide audience with eye-catching visuals and in-depth testimonials from clients, business partners and community partners. The video is a direct reflection of how all of these entities work together to enrich, empower and strengthen the entire Lubbock community.

BEST USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Saratoga Economic Development Corp.
SEDC’s award-winning networking strategy is to monitor all content coming in and out of their networks to make sure it is relevant to the Saratoga NY area’s mission. The key to their success comes from the SEDC’s members being very active themselves. The organization’s president, vice president, and director of marketing all are on these social networks (especially LinkedIn) and supporting SEDC’s cause.

The SEDC LinkedIn Group is their strongest social profile, boasting 1,849 members made up of primarily C-level executives from the region and industry sectors they are trying to reach. By keeping their group’s audience limited to only qualified members, it keeps the content being exchanged relevant and supportive to the area.

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Posted by Heidi Schwartz

The Hertz Corporation has announced that the company will relocate its worldwide headquarters to Estero, FL (Lee County, near Bonita Springs and Fort Myers) from Park Ridge, NJ. Hertz made the decision following its recent acquisition of the Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, which was finalized on November 19, 2012. Dollar Thrifty is currently headquartered in Tulsa, OK.

Consolidating the corporate offices to one location will allow for increased efficiencies and cost synergies across the company. Additionally, access to the Florida travel and tourism population will position the company for long-term growth. According to Visit Florida, there are approximately 1 million employees in the state’s travel and tourism industry, Florida’s largest business segment. Hertz also noted that Orlando is the world’s largest car rental market, and that Miami is a hub for accelerating travel growth between the United States and Latin America.

Starting this year, up to 700 jobs will be relocated to Florida over a two-year period.  More than 2,000 Hertz and Dollar Thrifty personnel will remain in New Jersey, including approximately 150 employees who currently work in Park Ridge. All other Park Ridge employees will be able to retain their current positions at the new headquarters, scheduled to be completed in early 2015. Hertz was founded in Chicago, IL in 1918, and moved its headquarters to New Jersey from mid-town Manhattan in 1988.

“After our recent business expansion, we have been looking for the right location to blend Hertz and Dollar Thrifty head office employees,” Hertz Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mark P. Frissora said. “Florida is the center of the U.S. travel and tourism industry—this move enables us to be closer to leisure and business customers as well as many travel and association partners. As part of this move, we will open off-airport and retail car sales stores on our headquarters campus, which will enable us to experiment with new services and monitor customer satisfaction first hand. Lee County, on the Southwestern Gulf Coast of Florida, is a well-established travel destination with tremendous growth potential, with easy access to other leading tourism markets including Orlando, Miami/Fort Lauderdale and Tampa/St. Petersburg.”

Hertz and Dollar Thrifty have more employees in Florida than in any other state except California, and Florida rents more cars per capita than any other state. Florida provides ready access to a vast and diverse talent pool, including 3,000 of its own employees. All of these factors supported the company’s final decision.

Frissora added, “This is the best, most balanced business decision based on market factors as well as the needs of our employees and customers. The relocation results in a positive financial return to the company and we will provide more details during our next quarterly earnings call. Additionally, in no way should this decision be perceived as a slight to our partners in New Jersey and Oklahoma. We recognize the significant efforts undertaken in recent years in both states to create and retain jobs, while improving the overall business climate.  In particular, over the last several years we have seen significant improvement in New Jersey’s business climate and our decision should not be interpreted as a reflection of our views about doing business in the Garden State.  New Jersey has been our home since 1988 and would have been for countless more if not for our acquisition of Dollar.

“Because of these efforts, we will continue to grow our car and equipment rental businesses in New Jersey and Oklahoma. We are retaining e-commerce and certain financial functions in northern New Jersey thanks to the state’s strength in the financial services industry.  Oklahoma will continue to be our primary home for IT, customer service and financial support driving our North American businesses.  Overall, we concluded that it is in the best interests of our company, which is primarily in the travel and tourism business, to be near our largest market.

“We also want to note that the New Jersey Partnership for Action was very active and effective in their efforts to entice us to remain in New Jersey, and we are grateful for their efforts.”

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Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, State of New Jersey

By the Business Facilities Staff
From the March/April 2013 issue 

BF: Amazon has announced it will build a $200-million fulfillment center in Robbinsville, the first phase of a major investment in NJ. Do you anticipate that central New Jersey will be a major logistics hub?
KG: Yes, I believe central New Jersey and the state as a whole will continue to develop as a major logistics hub. With more than 38,000 miles of interstates and highways, nearly 1,000 miles of rail freight lines and the nation’s third largest seaport—not to mention access to 130 million consumers within a day’s drive—New Jersey is already a leader in transportation and logistics. Central New Jersey is a great location for companies that need access to world-class infrastructure and transportation networks.

BF: The University Heights Science Park in Newark is gaining international attention, with Biotrial of France establishing its North American headquarters there. What role do Newark’s five universities play in attracting new biotech players to the state’s largest city?
KG: The Science Park is focused on drawing in technology companies that specialize in biosciences and biotechnology, information and communications, environmental and energy technology and advanced manufacturing technology. Home to 35,000 university students, researchers and professors, the research taking place and the highly skilled workforce being trained in New Jersey are the forces behind attracting new global biotech companies to Newark and to New Jersey. The state public research universities that are involved in Science Park—University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), Rutgers-Newark and New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT)—annually conduct nearly $100 million of research, most of which takes place at their sponsored technology centers in Newark’s University Heights district. Additionally, Essex County College focuses on training the technicians in 11 science and technology fields.

BF: Gov. Christie recently signed the Angel Investor Tax Credit Act, which is aimed at spurring early-stage biotech investment. How does the program work?
KG: The law encourages investment in technology companies by providing a tax credit against corporation business and gross income taxes of up to 10 percent of the qualified investment, up to a maximum of $500,000 per year for each investment. The program is subject to a $25 million annual cap. To be eligible, companies must have fewer than 225 employees, with at least 75 percent of those jobs within New Jersey, and must conduct research, manufacturing or technology commercialization in the state.

BF: Data storage leader CommVault is putting its global headquarters in Fort Monmouth. Are other companies considering locating at the Fort Monmouth site?
KG: At the end of January, the State reached a significant milestone in the redevelopment of the former military installation when the first sale of property was finalized between the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA) and CommVault. The global technology leader plans to undertake a three-phase project on the 55-acre site in Tinton Falls, including a 275,000-square-foot facility to serve as its worldwide corporate headquarters. Once the three phases of the project are completed, CommVault may create a total of up to 1,500 new jobs in NJ. In addition to CommVault, AcuteCare Health System is also expected to soon call the former Fort home. The company plans to reuse the former clinic as a medical facility, creating 50 new jobs in the near-term and investing a minimum of $5 million. AcuteCare is a privately owned corporation formed in 2002 to establish and manage long term acute care hospitals.

BF: How is the FMERA working to spur development at the former Army base?
KG: The Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authorization Act is creating an environment where companies can invest and employment can grow. FMERA is responsible for filling the 1,127 acres of land, with a focus on attracting technology-based companies. Master broker Cushman & Wakefield continues to leverage the work of FMERA to market the former Fort Monmouth property to attract businesses and investors. The Cushman & Wakefield team established www.fort-monmouth-marketing.com to showcase the property.

BF: NJ purchased billboards at the Super Bowl and President Obama’s inauguration for its “Resilience” campaign. What is the key message of this campaign?
KG: The key message of the “State of Resilience” campaign is that New Jersey is open for business, despite being hit by Superstorm Sandy in October. The objective of this integrated marketing campaign is to share this message with corporate decision makers in targeted top markets, while reassuring companies already invested in the state. New Jersey still remains a prime location for business, and it’s our job to let the world know that. And it’s important to note that not a single tax dollar was spent on this campaign, which is being led by Choose New Jersey, Inc., the state’s nonprofit business recruitment agency in partnership with New Jersey’s private industry sector.

BF: What are the most important steps NJ is taking to improve its business climate?
KG: New Jersey is equally dedicated to attracting new jobs and investment while retaining the businesses that are here. It’s important for us to promote New Jersey’s business advantages nationally and internationally. To do this, we meet with companies across a range of sectors, as well as with site selection consultants to update them on NJ’s business value proposition. In 2010, we created the Partnership for Action. This organization is made up of the New Jersey Business Action Center, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority and Choose New Jersey, Inc. Since its inception, the Partnership for Action has worked with the state government to generate a projected 64,056 new and retained jobs and more than $9.8 billion in capital investment. We also have worked with policymakers on lowering taxes, adopting a single sales factor, eliminating or streamlining the red tape and bureaucracy, and restructuring government to make it easier for our businesses to grow, while also recruiting new businesses to NJ. The bi-partisan Red Tape Commission has succeeded in removing dated regulations, fostering the use of online technology to streamline licensing and permitting applications; it continues to review the state’s regulatory process to remove obstacles that impede growth.

All of these organizations continue to work together to find new ways to improve our economy and market our key messages, so that every company knows what we can do for them in New Jersey.

The post SNAPSHOTS: 60 Seconds…with Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, State of New Jersey appeared first on Business Facilities.

Scripps Research Institute in Palm Beach, FL

By Stefanie Ramsperger and Jack Rogers
From the March/April 2013 issue

The recovery in the biotech sector appears to be solidifying. According to the most recent biotechnology report published by Ernst & Young, the sales in established biotech markets grew more than 10 percent in 2012. This threshold hasn’t been crossed since the outbreak of the worldwide financial crisis. Expenditures for research and development significantly increased by 9 percent.

About $33.4 billion in venture capital was raised in the sector. However, mostly big enterprises profited from this inflow whereas small- and medium-sized companies still have to suffer from a depletion of seed money since the Recession. In contrast to the U.S., financing in Europe has not regained the levels seen prior to the financial crisis. A retreat in the public markets in 2011 resulted in overall financing levels that are back to those seen in 2008, reflecting the continuing struggles of the Eurozone countries over the sovereign debt of some member countries.

While the biotechnology sectors of Eurozone countries are relatively small, the uncertainty has driven investors across the continent to seek lower risk. One bright spot is that, similar to the U.S., Europe has seen venture capital hold relatively steady. Across Europe, there were 56 venture rounds of greater than $5 million (down from 65 in 2010). The most significant venture capital transactions included $39 million raised by Symphogen (Denmark), $99 million raised by Biocartis (Switzerland) and $96 million raised by Circassia (United Kingdom). Biotech accounts for approximately 15 percent of total venture capital investment across Europe, a slightly higher percentage than in the U.S. in 2011.

In Europe the list of commercial leaders—Actelion, Elan Corp., Eurofins Scientific, Ipsen, Meda, Novozymes, Qiagen and Shire—has not changed since 2007. In 2011, the revenues of these commercial leaders increased by 19 percent, while those of the other companies decreased by an identical percentage. The same pattern was repeated across all the major indicators, with the health of a few large companies increasing as the rest of the industry saw its performance worsen.

In this year’s Global Biotech Report, we zero in on several locations in Europe that are well-positioned for future success, including three biotech hubs in Germany and key biotech/ pharma centers in Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg that have strengthened their competitive position in the global market in recent years. As always, we also take a fresh look at the leading biotech and pharmaceutical hubs in the U.S.

Hessen Keeps Getting Bigger In Biotech/Pharma

Biotech is among the most important sectors of the Hessen region and this sector is growing every year. With Frankfurt recognized as the financial capital of Germany, the area is well known for its excellence in the service sector. However, the region also excels in manufacturing industries, and it is Germany’s logistics gateway to the world.

More than 19,500 people are employed in the biotech/pharma sector in Hessen. The area has 225 biotech companies (of which 59 are core biotech concerns), and 14 percent of these employ at least 500 people. In the last decade, Hessian biotech companies have more than doubled their revenues to over 5.2 billion Euros.

The strength of Hessen’s biotech sector are a multitude of R&D programs, its number of industry patents and its domination in the medical sector of biotechnology—known as “red” biotech, accounting for 81 percent of all Hessian biotech revenues (according to the latest Location Study Hessen-Biotech, which was commissioned by Hessen’s location marketing organization, Hessen Trade and Invest GmbH). However, industrial biotechnology (“white” biotechnology) is on the rise. About 56 percent of all biotech companies in Hessen have their own R&D programs.

White biotechnology is located at the interfaces of chemistry, biology and the engineering sciences. “It uses microorganisms and enzymes to create new substances and processes for the purpose of producing innovation for many different user sectors, for example amino acids, vitamins and aromas for the food industries,” explains Dr. Thomas Niemann, Director Technology and Future at Hessen Trade and Invest GmbH.

The biotech/pharma activities in Hessen center around two clusters: one is located in Central Hessen, the other is in the southern part of the State. Hessen is a stronghold in biotech production. Out of a total capacity of more than 830,000 liters of fermentation production in the manufacture of “red” biotech in Germany, more than 250,000 liters are attributed to Hessen. Production takes place in Frankfurt (sanofi-aventis), Marburg (Novartis- Behring), and Hanau (Heraeus).

Höchst Industrial Park in Frankfurt is one of Europe’s largest chemical and pharmaceutical parks and looks back to almost 150 years of chemistry tradition. Just in 2012, tenants invested 310 Million Euros, bringing the total to about 5.5 Billion Euros since 2000. Höchst hosts 90 on-site companies, among them sanofi-aventis, Bayer CropScience, Clariant and Celanese. Researchers, manufacturers, customers and service providers come together at the site and cooperate in terms of raw materials and infrastructure. They also join forces with regard to future-oriented technologies, because the Industrial Park embodies a wealth of research and production know-how. Site operator Infraserv Höchst offers services with regards to secondary processes; for example, they provide the companies with raw materials on-site, do the facility management and run site security. New companies can also rely on their patent lawyers, engineering consultants and other personnel services, which decreases their starting cost.

Hessen has five universities and five Schools of Applied Sciences that cooperate with biotech companies. Hessen is particularly strong in the field of Medical Technology. It comprises a total of 900 medical tech companies, which employ more than 20,000 people. Many of them are located at Höchst Industrial Park. According to Dr. Niemann, “one-third of the German production capacity of biotechnological medicine is centered in Hessen.”

Recently, the importance of “white” (industrial) has increased in the area. The Cluster Initiative Integrated Biotechnology (CIB) in Frankfurt supports networking in this field. The cluster was one of the winners of the “BioIndustry 2021” contest held by the Federal Ministry of Research. The Hessian state government also has set up a state initiative for the Development of Scientific and Economic Excellence (LOEWE) with the aim of providing long-term support for the research landscape. “This especially includes new ideas in Industrial Biotechnology,” says Niemann. “In Hessen, funds of more than 32 million Euros are made available for Industrial Biotechnology.”

Another promising biotech field is “personalized medicine.” CI3 is a network in Hessen to advance individualized immune intervention. It has been selected as one of Germany’s leading edge clusters in 2012 and has thus been awarded 40 million Euros by the German government. “Research in this field is very promising,” confirms Niemann. “The cluster, that is supported by the states of Hessen, Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Wurttemberg and has 120 member-institutions, is on its way to the very top.”

The cluster CI3 works on innovative medicine that is exactly adjusted to the individual patient, who suffers, for example, from tumors or autoimmune diseases. The center of the cluster is based in Mainz. The idea of the cluster is that companies and research facilities will work in partnerships on 78 different projects. The project partners estimate a total volume of approximately 130 million Euros.

“Universities, other research facilities, small and medium-sized companies as well as international players in the field—we have the whole value chain in Hessen,” says Thomas Niemann. Among the project partners are, for example, the technical university Darmstadt, Goethe University Frankfurt, the Paul-Ehrlich-Institution, Georg-Speyer-Haus, Abbott, Biotest, sanofi-aventis and Merck.

Berlin: Biotech Mega-Hub

The Berlin-Brandenburg region concentrates on clinical research. In the capital of Germany, biotechnology is a strong force driving innovation and growth, interfacing with the pharmaceutical, diagnostics and medical technology sectors. Berlin-Brandenburg has a versatile research and clinical landscape. HealthCapital, the cluster management of the region’s healthcare industries, was implemented in 2010. Its goal is to coordinate companies, research and education institutes to foster collaboration and innovation.

Among the focus areas of Berlin-Brandenburg are biomedicine and diagnostics, therapeutics and regenerative medicine and industrial biotechnology. Berlin-Brandenburg is home to more than 200 biotech companies. The sector employs more than 4,000 people. In addition, pharmaceutical and medtech companies in the area have another 10,000 employees each.

Like Munich, Berlin is a top location for start-ups. In 2012, Berlin was ranked the top start-up region in Germany by Foreign Direct Investment magazine. The region offers foreign companies reimbursement grants of up to 50 percent. Berlin is not only home of various start ups, but existing bioscience companies are expanding in the area. In 2012, Takeda made Berlin its distribution headquarters. The Japanese pharmaceutical company is Berlin’s most recent arrival, having relocated its distribution unit from Aachen and Konstanz to Berlin.

Also, sanofi-aventis and B. Braun Melsungen made large investments to expand their existing locations in Berlin. B. Braun Melsungen had their roofing ceremony in January 2013. The 38.2 million Euro expansion project increases the size of the production site by 65 percent. Injectable solutions in plastic containers will be manufactured there. The building will probably be completed by October 2013. Production lines will be installed in 2014. B. Braun Melsungen expects to create 25 new jobs by 2015.

In the past five years, B. Braun Melsungen already had invested 40 Million Euros in Berlin for expansion projects. 670 employees already work for the company in Berlin. In total, the business has three sites in Germany’s capital.

Among other major global corporations that are located in the capital region are Bayer Pharma AG, Berlin-Chemie AG, Pfizer Deutschland and sanofi-aventis. In the past years, sales revenues of more than 5 billion Euros were generated by pharmaceutical products of 24 Berlin-based pharma companies. Together, they employ 10,000 people in the area.

Among a variety of research institutes in Berlin that focus on Life Sciences are four Max Planck institutes, two Fraunhofer institutes, Leibniz institutes and Helmholtz centers, five universities and four universities of the Applied Sciences.

The Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) was founded in November 2012. On this occasion, Professor Walter Rosenthal, chairman of the board and scientific director of the Max Delbück Center for Molecular Medicine Berlin Buch, said: “The founding of the Berlin Institute of Health is a unique opportunity for the German science landscape to restructure the collaboration between a non-university research institution and a university medical center in the field of basic and clinical research.” The BIH will be established in 2015 by the state of Berlin as a public corporation and it will combine the research of the Charité and the MDC, one of 18 research institutions of the Helmholtz Association. The MDC employs more than 1,600 people from 57 countries and works with a budget of more than 70 million Euros per year. The goal is that the cooperative venture with the Charité will harness the strengths and expertise of both partners and significantly advance health research not only in Germany but also on an international level. It will focus on an interdisciplinary approach. For research of the BIH in the coming years, extensive technology platforms are being setup.

“Based on its excellence in interdisciplinary and transnational cooperation, the cluster HealthCapital Berlin- Brandenburg is generating innovations which are to benefit patients as soon as possible,” says director BioTOP Berlin-Brandenburg and cluster manager HealthCapital, Dr. Kai Bindseil. “The application spectrum for biotechnology is constantly increasing. While biotech has concentrated on developing new medicine and diagnostics in recent years, we are now moving on to new markets due to intelligent interconnections with branches like information and communication technology.”

To enforce cooperation at the interface of biotech and IT, Berlin brings together IT and biotech science and industry to develop interdisciplinary projects for innovative IT-supported healthcare. One example is the project “IT-Future of Medicine (ITFoM). The Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics is leading in the project. 60 institutions and companies have joined forces to develop computer models by which personalized “virtual patients” will be derived from the molecular, physiological, anatomic and environmental data of every individual patient. The goal is to develop optimal concepts with minimal side effects.

Public support remains an important factor for financing new products because only few companies have access to venture capital funding. A study by Fleischhauer, Hoyer & Partner has shown that venture capital has increased compared to the crises. With 70 million Euros most of the money was invested in biotech. Investments in medtech were also high with 66 million Euros. The study shows that the Berlin-Brandenburg area ranks third (Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia rank first and second) in regional distribution of all investment. According to the latest BioTOP Report, public funds worth up to 42 million Euros are provided by the federal states for fixed-asset investments and new product developments. The leverage effect generated a further 45 million in private investment. The federal government and the European Union provide additional double-figure million Euro funding.

For start-ups, the High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), leading investor in innovative start-ups, has created a new fund worth more than 300 million Euros. Among the investors are Altana, BASF and Robert Bosch.

From Invention To Innovation In Bavaria

“Success through synergies” is the motto of the Bavarian cluster initiatives. To assist entrepreneurs in the starting up and expanding of biotech, Bavaria has set up three agencies under the cluster Biotechnology Bavaria: BioM is responsible for greater Munich, BioMed Würzburg is located in the north of Bavaria and BioPark Regensburg GmbH is responsible for biotech in the core of the state. Bavaria is home to over 320 biotech and pharmaceutical companies.

The cluster in the greater Munich area is home to around 200 companies. 19,000 employees work in the Munich Biotech region. With two universities, two universities of Applied Sciences, the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Neurobiology and Psychiatry and the Helmholtz Research Center for Environmental Health, the region offers an excellent environment for innovation. These institutes include, for example, the Center for Nanosciences, which is one of the world’s leaders in the development and application of nanobiologies. The Life Sciences Campus in Martinsried forms the core of Munich’s Biotech region. The agency “Invest in Bavaria” states: “The campus is home to nearly half of the region’s Biotechs.”

IZB – Biotech Incubator Martinsried Bavaria

The focus of this area is on “red biotechnology,” particularly on diagnostics and therapeutics. The region is dominated by small and medium-sized companies, but eight corporations are listed on the stock exchange, among them MorphoSys.

Freising, located just a few minutes north of Munich, is home of the Weihenstephan campus. It is one of Europe’s major centers of green biotechnologies and has its own incubation center.

In 2012, BioM announced that the Bavarian Ministry of Economics granted four groups of young academics in the field of biosystems research. The subsidies by the state mount up to 1.5 million Euros for each team of young academics. The duration for the grant is five years. This lays the cornerstone for a new research network in the field of molecular biosystems (BioSysNet) that is being established within the framework of a new strategy called “Aufbruch Bayern.” The four young academics that lead the research groups have previously worked in Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and in the U.S. The goal of BioSysNet is to further strengthen Bavaria’s competitive situation in molecular biosystems.

BioSysNet is part of a Bavarian research center for molecular biosystems and thus profits from the subsidies by the Ministry of Science, Research and Arts and is being supported by “Aufbruch Bayern.” The total subsidies amount to 18.1 million Euros.

Bavaria’s north attracts entrepreneurs in the field of biotechnology and medical technology with its Innovation and Start-up Center for Biotechnology and Biomedicine. The Würzburg region is the largest entrepreneurship center in the district of Lower Franconia. The project “Life Sciences in Würzburg” has been established to provide consultancy services and to promote start-ups.

A third hub for biotechnology in Bavaria is in the middle of the state, in Regensburg. Back in 1998 the BioPark Regensburg GmbH was founded. The industrial park was supported by the State of Bavaria and built directly on the university campus at a total cost of 42 million Euros. The park has been expanded in 2001, 2006 and 2011 and now offers 18,000 square meters of laboratory, office and storage space for companies and institutes. Currently, 36 leaseholders and 550 employees have chosen the BioPark. The Regensburg region is home of 47 companies with more than 3,145 employees, 900 of them working in the core area of biotechnology. This makes the Regensburg area the second top biotech region in Bavaria.

The specialties of the university of Applied Sciences in Regensburg are fluorescent bioanalytics, molecular diagnostics, biofunctional surfaces, sensors and applied biomedicine.

In January, BioPark Regensburg GmbH announced that a new center for biomedical engineering will be established in the area. The “Regensburg Center of Biomedical Engineering” (RCBE) will move into interdisciplinary lab facilities in Regensburg’s BioPark. The aim of the new center is to bundle biomedical, medical, IT and engineering competencies and make use of the interfaces.

It comes as no surprise that Regensburg bundles its competencies in interdisciplinary research. For four years the University of Applied Sciences in Regensburg has offered classes in “Medical Information Technology.” Since 2011, “Biomedical Engineering” is a course of studies. Graduates are qualified to work at the interface of medicine and IT, or engineering, respectively. The RCBE will now support and bundle research competencies in these fields. Its focus will be on biomechanics, e-health and equipment technology for medical engineering.

Collectively, companies in Bavaria have performed well in the past years. Employment figures rose slightly by two percent. Bavaria’s 166 small and medium-sized core biotech companies employed a record-setting 4,000-plus  people in the state. Since 2006, employment in these companies has grown by 30 percent. 126 of the 166 small and medium-sized companies are located in the greater Munich area. Core biotech companies account for 10,300 in Bavaria, a plus of 300 employees at Roche, Penzberg, which is remarkable. Adding pharma to this count brings employment in the sector to well over 20,000 people.

There were four newly established companies and among the most recent openings of international subsidiaries are three US-biotech companies and one Japanese pharmaceutical company. LabPMM, San Diego California, opened its German diagnostics Laboratory and Myriad Genetics, Salt Lake City, Utah, set up its central European laboratory in a new building in Martinsried.

Bavaria was countrywide the only state in the past year to attract foreign companies for greenfield development. Bavaria was able to chalk up about 70 million Euros of external biotech funding for Germany in 2011. Numbers for 2012 are not available yet, but it can be estimated that external funding will be higher after a rather meager year. At the same time, revenues of Bavarian biotech companies went up to a new record of more than 510 million Euros.

In 2010, the Munich Biotech Region along with Bavaria’s Medical Valley Nuremberg were winners of the Leading Edge Cluster competition by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Until March 2015, the main research and development strategy for several projects in the Munich area will push personalized medicine. Like the cluster CI3 in Hessen which got the same award only two years later in 2012, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research contributes 40 million Euros for the cluster. The Munich Biotech region received another 60 million Euros by the Bavarian ministry and industry partners.

Next to this, a number of Bavarian biotech companies receive grants by the European Union for their research and development projects. One example is the EUROCALIN Consortium, which includes ten companies, for example Pieris AG in Freising. Over the last 15 years, Roche has invested more than 2 billion Euros for their location in Penzberg to develop and produce therapeutic proteins. In the last two years alone, they invested more than 350 million Euros in new plants for production of therapeutics and diagnostics in Penzberg.

Belgium: Beehive Of Biotech

In Belgium, Flanders has specialized in plant biotechnology, whereas Wallonia has focused on health biotechnologies and medical technologies. Most biotech companies in Belgium are located in the northern part of the country, Flanders. Approximately 17 percent of the companies are in the Capital region, and Wallonia is home to around 34 percent of the companies.

More than 15 percent of the European biopharmaceutical exports come from Belgium. The country is said to be the largest exporter in pharmaceutical goods. A quarter of the world’s vaccines are produced in Belgium. As the world’s second largest vaccine producer, the company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK Biologicals) in Rixensart, southeast of Brussels, contributes to a great deal to this. Approximately 30,000 people work in the biotech sector.

Biotech in the three parts of Belgium is organized in special associations. Flander’s association is called “FlandersBio,” the association in the Capital Region is called “Brussels Life Tech” and Wallonia’s association is “BioWin.” Flanders in the North looks back to a strong tradition of biotechnology that is centered around the university towns of Gent, Mechelen and Leuven. Flanders is home to more than 120 biotech companies, most of which belong to the health and green biotechnologies sectors.

Brussels is home to mostly young biotech companies. Although the region covers not even one percent of the country’s territory, it represents more than 15 percent of the biotech activity in Belgium. Most companies in the capital work in medical biotech.

The same holds true for companies in Wallonia. Since 2005, the regional government of Wallonia supports biotechnologies with the so-called “Marshall Plan.” Setting out from this action plan, the Walloon government has updated and optimized its priorities via a “Marshall Plan 2.Green.” It has been endowed with a budget of 2.75 billion Euros for the period 2009 to 2014. 1.15 billion Euros are alternative funding.

One of the most important regional clusters is the “BioWin” life science network. 27 research and development projects are being funded within the cluster. “BioWin is establishing Wallonia as a world leader in various areas of cutting-edge technology, such as biopharmacy, cell therapy, radiopharmacy, diagnostics, biotechnological products for research and industry, bioinformatics and the processing of complex data,” says Frédérick Druck, communication and international relations director at BioWin.

The cluster has 510 members with 116 businesses and around 80 percent of its members are small and medium-sized companies. 400 research units employ about 11,000 researchers from five academic centers of excellence. With 14,300 employees and a turnover of 4.4 billion Euros, the health sector is key to the economy of Wallonia.

Of the 27 projects that have been funded as a result of the Marshall Plan, five have been completed. Druck says: “In the coming years, we will create 1,200 new jobs.” He adds: “With the help of the cluster we have made a big step in excellence in technologies.” One outcome of this is that 51 patents connected to the projects have been submitted and seven new products have been launched on the market. “We see that five new businesses have been set up,” Druck adds. “Now that there is a network there is a real dynamic.”

Internationalization is key to BioWin in order to strengthen its global competitiveness. Therefore, WAL-Dx/BioWin, the Walloon in vitro diagnostic network and its partner, EuroMediag, the diagnostic cluster of EuroBioMed, the health cluster for the PACA and Languedoc-Roussillon regions (France) joined forces to create EDCA, the European Diagnostic Cluster Alliance. The network already includes nine clusters and represents 400 companies and 40 universities across Europe.

“It was also important for us to create new technological platforms,” Druck says. MaSTherCell, Wallonia’s first technological platform dedicated to the clinical and commercial production of cell therapy products for third parties is a case in point. Realized in 2011, it helped create 20 new jobs. By 2014, 35 jobs will be created and 50 new jobs are predicted by 2017.

“In Wallonia, the universities in Brussels, Charleroi and Liège are hotspots for research,” says Druck. In total, 14 universities and several other research facilities add to Belgium’s great research experience. Flanders and Wallonia have five universities each and four schools are located in the Brussels area. On a regular basis, Belgium’s universities rank among the top 25, according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities. Leuven University, for example, has specialized on medicine, cell biology and gene therapy. Gent University, by contrast, focuses on biomedicine and plant genetics. Hasselt University is known for its expertise in autoimmune diseases.

The financial situation for biotech companies in Belgium is favorable. “For the last eight months we note that very small companies have found 60 million Euros private capital at venture capital funds,” says Frédérick Druck. The website reports that Belgium is Europe’s leader with regard to venture capital.

One recent investment was made by the biopharmaceutical company Union Chimique Belge (UCB). The company inaugurated a new biotechnology pilot facility at the Braine-l’Alleud site of UCB in September 2012. The site operates a research and production facility employing 1,500 people. The biopharmaceutical facility was constructed with an investment of 65 million Euros. Approximately 100 new jobs will be created. With the opening of the pilot biotech center, UCB is gearing up to reinforce its biotech activity through industry and academia collaboration. It is among the first plants in Belgium to produce cell-culture-based therapeutic proteins. The plant is a milestone in the development of new biological medicines and molecular development.

Luxembourg: Europe’s Solid Rock

“[Luxembourg has] a solid foundation to generate future economic diversification and growth,” says Dr. Thomas Dentzer, Head of Life Sciences Sector Development and Luxembourg BioHealth cluster manager. As the competitiveness of a country is more and more dependent on effective innovation networks involving private and public sectors, Luxembourg has implemented various initiatives in order to strengthen the research and development and innovation potential of companies and to reinforce links with public research organizations and academia.

Luxembourg’s House of BioHealth

“The Luxembourg Cluster Initiative, launched by the Luxembourg government, actively encourages networking between the private and the public sectors,” explains Dentzer. Healthcare and biotechnology are among the key technologies that have been identified as being important for the future sustainable development of the Luxembourg economy. Luxembourg’s research and development and innovation policy brings together biotech with other networks, such as eco-innovation-technologies or IT.

The Luxembourg BioHealth Cluster brings together public and private stakeholders whose activities are related to health science and technologies in Luxembourg. “It aims to foster partnerships and collaborations that favor innovative projects, thereby reinforcing and capitalizing on the national strategy developed to achieve scientific excellence in molecular medicine,” says Dentzer.

Luxembourg is strong in biomedical research. “The trends in Luxembourg, also due to the focus on personalized medicine, are going in the direction of computational biology and bioinformatics, using the latest IT-solutions to investigate complex processes,” adds Dentzer. The medical field is taking advantage of Luxembourg’s IT infrastructure and its expertise in data security.

Among the most important research facilities in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg are the Integrated BioBank of Luxembourg (IBBL), the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) and, most recently, the House of Biohealth, a new life science incubator.

The mission of IBBL is to work with the people of Luxembourg to provide high quality specimens and data, catalyze partnerships and support research. To accomplish its aims IBBL will, for example, support the four priority research programs in the personalized medicine initiative (cancer, type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s disease and normal population cohort). The LCSB, by contrast, is accelerating biomedical research by closing the link between systems biology and medical research. Neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s disease, metabolomics and disease network analysis are in the focus of LCSB’s research.

Luxembourg’s most recent research facility is the House of Biohealth. The construction of the new life sciences incubator was officially launched in  November 2012 by the Secretary of Economy and Foreign Trade, Etienne Schneider. It aims to facilitate the transformation of research results into marketable products and services, and it is expected to receive its first tenants in the beginning of 2014. It will be built in the vicinity of the future city of sciences in Esch-Belval. Dentzer says: “This unique facility will offer office space as well as laboratories providing the necessary infrastructure for the creation and development of start-ups as well as already established companies in the fields of biotech, cleantech and ICT.” Within 10,000 square meters of laboratory space, the building is expected to host 500 to 700 researchers.

The building is a joint project of the Luxembourg Ministry of Economy and Foreign Trade, the ZARE Park for economic activities in Esch-sur-Alzette and private investors.

The Luxembourg government has developed financial aids for companies involved in research and development. The Ministry of Economy and Foreign Trade, for example, targets small enterprises or small private research organizations established in Luxembourg which were created less than six years before the aid is granted and which either will, in the foreseeable future, develop new products, processes or services, which involve a significant risk of technical or industrial failure or which have used at least 15 percent of their operating expenses for research and development over the least one of the three years preceding the granting of the aid, or over the current year. All of the enterprise’s expenses are eligible. This aid can only be awarded once and it cannot exceed one million Euros. Financial aids for new innovative businesses are, for example start-up loans or equipment loans offered by the Société Nationale de Crédit et d’Investissement. To support intellectual property rights, Luxembourg offers an 80 percent tax exemption to income from patents, trademarks, design, models and software copyrights or domain names. Capital gains generated on intellectual property will be exempt up to 80 percent. Plus, in 2009, net wealth tax was abolished on qualifying intellectual property.

Biotech company WaferGen Biosystems, Inc. set up its European headquarters in Luxembourg in 2010. The Luxembourg government provided the company with significant support towards increasing its research and development activities and raising its profile in Europe. WaferGen is working in partnership with the Integrated Biobank of Luxembourg and maintains offices in the business incubator Luxembourg Technoport. WaferGen is an emerging leader in the development, manufacture, and sale of state-of-the-art systems for genome analysis for the life science and pharmaceutical industries.

Another company that installed its European Headquarter in Luxembourg is Neo Medical Systems. The company collaborates with Luxinnovation and the BioHealth cluster. Founder Francois Scalais submitted a business plan to the 1,2,3,GO programme, which selected the company as a laureate in the 2012 round. With a prototype of a system that provides 3D laparoscopic images in operating rooms, Neo Medical Systems is currently preparing to participate in the Seed4Start initiative to bring in additional financing. Scalais explains: “Luxembourg is great for us.”

 Austria: Connecting East And West

The total revenue in biotech in Austria accounts for approximately 3 billion Euros. The vast majority is generated by only 36 large companies like Boehringer Ingelheim, Sandoz or Sanochemia that have 5,800 employees. In 2010, the research strength of these companies was as high as 107 percent. Innovation hubs are in Tirol, Upper Austria and Styria. The most important innovation hub for biotech, however, is Austria’s capital region, Vienna. Every second biotech company in Austria is based in Vienna.

The cluster LISAvienna connects more than 400 companies, 99 of which are core biotech companies, and 22 research facilities. 9,000 life scientists work in Vienna.

Austria is known for its research funding. In 2011, Austria raised the research rate/premium from eight to 10 percent for expenses in research and development. Companies that invest in innovation get the premium in cash.

“Two national funding agencies, AWS and FFG, fund pre-seed formations of companies with 200,000 Euros”, says Susanne Locker. She is a project manager in the LISAvienna cluster management. “AWS and FFG fund young high-tech-start-ups with one million Euro seed-financing.” The research funding company FFG supports innovative projects financially.

One central funding initiative is the Competence Center for Excellent Technologies (COMET). It aims to strengthen cooperation between industry and academia. During its run duration from 2006 to 2019, 1.5 billion Euros will be invested in industry-oriented research; a great part of this will go to life sciences.

One of Austria’s focus areas is cancer research. The competence center Oncotyrol in Innsbruck has a research volume of 37.5 million Euros until 2015. In 2012, the EU-project OPTATO was started to develop new strategies against an incurable bone marrow tumor. It has a research volume of four million Euros.

Also, the institute of molecular pathology (IMP) that is based at the Campus Vienna Biocenter, enjoys an excellent reputation. More than 200 researchers from all over the world work here. Boehringer Ingelheim invests more than 160 million Euros per year for cancer research in Vienna.

Among the most important research facilities next to IMP and Oncotyrol are the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria), the Austrian Center for Industrial Biotechnology (acib) and the Research Center Pharmaceutical Engineering (RCPE) in Graz.

The RCPE was founded in 2008 in the context of the funding program COMET. RCPE’s CEO Johannes Khinast says: “With our special research focus, corporations like Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Roche, Novartis, sanofi-aventis, Bayer, AstraZeneca, Abbott or Merck like to partner with us. We work together with 10 renowned research facilities. There are only two comparable non-university research institutes in the world.”

In 2012, pharma-giant Baxter announced it will build a 30 million Euros production facility in Vienna. The company is planning to launch the operating site at the end of 2014. In 2011, Baxter invested approximately 47 million Euros in production sites in Austria. In 2012, the pharmaceutical corporation invested 100 million Euros. In total, the company employs 4,100 people in Austria. Baxter employs 900 people in Vienna and Orth in the field of research and development. Three out of four scientists who work for Baxter around the globe are thus based in Austria. The country is Baxter’s largest site in the world.

In 2012, Austria’s investment agency ABA was able to attract 201 foreign companies across all sectors to start their business or relocate to Austria. They invested 282.4 million Euros. 2,385 new jobs were created, which is an increase of 31 percent, compared to 2011.

One of 11 life science companies that invested in Austria in 2012 is biolitec AG. The German company develops medical laser systems and fiber optics. Biolitec CEO Dr. Wolfgang Neuberger says: “The infrastructure, funding options and flexible group taxation were crucial for our decision to relocate our headquarters to Vienna.”

Texas Biotech Out Of The Labs, Into The Market

In the U.S., the race is on to move promising biotech initiatives out of labs and into commercial production.

In the Lone Star State, a University of Texas spinoff company has pulled in $2 million to test a new technique for culturing non-embryonic stem cells. According to a regulatory filing, StemBioSys raised at least $2 million of a $3.5 million equity offering. CEO Dr. Steven Davis told the San Antonio Business Journal late last year (when the company began raising the round) that it would fund research projects to validate the quality of the stem cells generated by the company’s technology.

StemBioSys is developing XC-marrow ECM, a propriety three-dimensional culture for growing mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow, adipose tissue and umbilical cord blood. These immature cells have multiple potential uses in research and therapeutics because they can self-renew and mature into a variety of cell types. Stem cell therapies are being studied as a repair mechanism for tissues all over the body, from the heart to the brain to the knees.

The company says its three-dimensional extracellular matrix can grow cells quicker than conventional media while retaining stem cell properties and may help overcome key obstacles in creating stem cell therapies. The technology was developed by Dr. Xiao-Dong Chen, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center and the company’s chief scientific officer, and licensed from UT.

Although it’s only available for research purposes now, this kind of technology could have therapeutic applications down the line. “If this research transfers successfully to clinical application in humans, we could establish personal stem cell banks,” Chen said. “We would collect a small number of older stem cells from patients, put those into our young microenvironment to rescue them–increasing their number and quality–then deliver them back into the patient.”

The company has struck a deal with GenCure, an affiliate of the nonprofit South Texas Blood & Tissue Center, to receive mononuclear cells from clinical grade umbilical-cord blood that it uses for R&D purposes. It was founded in 2010 in San Antonio, Texas and has received previous funding from the Texas Technology Development Center’s McDermott Pre-Seed Fund.

Currently, there are more than 160 Austin-area companies with over 8,200 employees operating in the areas of Biotech, Diagnostics, Medical Device, CRO/IRB, Pharma, Biosecurity and Agribio, among others. Texas is one of the leading biotech states in the country, with 3,400 companies and an estimated economic impact of $75 billion.

As relatively young industries in Austin, life science and biotechnology companies enjoy unique successes, with strong growth projected in the areas of biologics/biotech and medical device/diagnostics. Here’s a breakdown of the leading sectors:

• Medical device/diagnostics (40 percent)
• Biologics/biotech (20 percent)
• Contract Research Organizations (20 percent)
• Pharmaceuticals (10 percent)
• Other (11 percent)

Molecular Biotech Center Opens In Salt Lake City

The University of Utah has developed a well-deserved reputation for its research and business innovation, a reputation now enhanced by a new high-tech facility that could promises a financial return as well.

Leaders from the Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative in 2012 dedicated the James L. Sorenson Molecular Biotechnology Building—a $130-million, 208,000-square-foot research facility where scientists, physicians and engineers will collaborate to create new advances in the biotech field.

“The technology that is developed here is going to be a multidisciplinary …cross-pollination of ideas,” said Dinesh Patel, chairman of the USTAR Governing Authority, as reported by KSL.com. Located midway between the engineering and medical areas of campus, the new research building will facilitate increased interaction among faculty and student researchers,

Up to three additional buildings are planned to expand the university’s biotech center.

Financial support for the facility came from $100 million in state bonding and the balance from private donations, including $15 million from the Sorenson Legacy Foundation and $1.25 million from Micron Technology. Construction of the project began in April 2009 and was completed in December 2011. Tenants started moving in last month.

According to the KSL.com report, researchers at the new facility will have the ability to perform “dry” nano (fabrication) for silicon chips, etc., as well as “wet” nano—for use in biomedical devices. The facility also boasts precision equipment, including a $3 million confocal microscope for florescent imaging of cellular processes. Nanofabrication is the design and manufacture of devices with dimensions measured in nanometers. One nanometer is a millionth of a millimeter—less than the diameter of a human hair. The process is of interest to computer engineers because it could open the door to super-high-density microprocessors and memory chips that could one day store a data bit in a single atom.

Since its inception in 2007, USTAR has helped produce more than 300 invention disclosures and patent filings, along with 44 start-up companies or industry partnerships, according to a program statement.

USTAR collaborates with the University of Utah and Utah State University to create world-class research teams in strategic innovation development areas. Highly regarded faculty members, supported by teams of top researchers, lead the teams.

The infrastructure and multidisciplinary nature of the new Sorenson Molecular Biotechnology Building and at the related facility at Utah State University will likely help draw bigger research grants to Utah.

“To successfully win big federal and industry grants takes more complex, collaborative teams of researchers,” Patel told KSL.com. “The physical and intellectual infrastructure this building represents has already helped the U. of U. win a $20 million advanced materials grant.”

The new facility houses the Brain Institute, Nano Institute of Utah and Department of Bioengineering, according to USTAR spokesman Michael O’Malley.

Thus far, the USTAR program has recruited 32 principle researchers to Utah from such prestigious institutions as Harvard, MIT and UCLA. As of Dec. 2011, the researchers have generated nearly $80 million in grants since 2007, with more than $81 million in research proposals pending.

NBAF Bio-Defense Lab Moves Forward In Manhattan, KS

In Kansas, state leaders are celebrating recent progress in the region’s largest biotech project: the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF), in Manhattan, KS.

The federal Department of Homeland Security signed a formal land transfer agreement with the state to move ahead with NBAF.

“While there is much more work to be done, signing of the land transfer agreement is a good step forward in securing the future health, wealth and security of our nation,” Gov. Sam Brownback said in a news release. “It demonstrates DHS’ continued commitment to completing the NBAF in Manhattan. Kansas stands ready to partner with DHS to move this important national security priority forward.”

Rendering of the National Bio- and Agro- Defense Facility in Kansas

DHS will acquire about 46 acres of land near the north end of Kansas State University for the lab. The transfer clears the way for construction to begin, and a groundbreaking later this year.

NBAF scientists will research animal and human diseases and develop cures and vaccines to counter them. According to the news release, DHS already has invested more than $125 million in the lab, which is expected to cost $650 million. The state has committed $105 million dollars of matching funds for the facility and $35 million dollars of research funding. The project is expected to have a $3.5 billion economic boon to the state in its first 20 years, including 757 construction jobs and 326 permanent positions.

NBAF researchers would study animal-related diseases—including foot-and-mouth disease, classical swine fever, African swine fever, Nipah virus, Japanese Encephalitis, Rift Valley fever and contagious bovine pleuropneuomonia—and develop vaccines and treatments. The facility would be run jointly by Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“This was the next step we have all been waiting for and moves us further down the construction timeline,” said U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts. “We will continue to monitor each step in the process to ensure NBAF remains a top national security priority.”

VC Funds Flowing Into Florida Bio Initiatives

The bioscience industry in Florida is on the rise in terms of new companies and venture capital flowing into businesses, according to BioFlorida, an industry trade organization.

Venture funding for the industry in 2012, for example, rose 19 percent over 2011, to $103.5 million, according to a BioFlorida release. That was the best year for venture capital in the industry since 2007. Plus, the amount of deals rose from 15 in 2011 to 19 in 2012.

The amount of biotech start-up companies in the sector is growing, too. BioFlorida reports that tally is up 13.5 percent since the first quarter of 2012.

The statewide data comes from a University of Florida Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator report. “The new data is evidence of a strong, innovative and sustainable bioscience business climate here in Florida,” says David Day, assistant vice president of the University of Florida Office of Technology Licensing and the Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator.

“Not only is Florida experiencing growth in the number of biotechnology businesses, we are also seeing a continued increase in venture capital investments—demonstration of investor confidence in our biotechnology start-ups and breakthrough research,” Day added.

Naples-based biotechnology firm Kirax is planning a new high-rise headquarters. “My goal is to continue to expand Kirax in Naples,” said Edmundo Muniz, president and CEO of Kirax, which develops pharmaceuticals, in an interview with the Naples Daily News. “You will see a big tall building in Naples with the word ‘Kirax’ across the top.”

Southwest Florida is playing catch-up with other regions of the state in developing a biotech cluster. Of the 219 biotechnology companies based in Florida, seven of them are located in Southwest Florida, according to Florida BioDatabase. That puts the region sixth out of the state’s eight regions in terms of numbers of biotech companies, tied with Northeast Florida and behind the Panhandle and Central Florida, according to the database.

Florida experienced a biotech boom from 2006 through 2011, with the number of companies growing by 42 percent compared to just 5 percent nationwide, the university’s Florida BioPulse report shows. More than 10 percent of the nation’s biotech companies call Florida home.

The report gives much of the credit to then-Gov. Jeb Bush, who pushed a controversial $310 million incentive package through the state Legislature to lure the Scripps Research Institute to Palm Beach County, which threw in another $187 million for the first phase of construction.

The institute specializes in biomedical research. It opened in 2009. Scripps “opened up the dam” for biotech in Florida, said Patti Breedlove, associate director of UF’s Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator.

“That was a pivotal moment,” she said. “People stopped laughing about the possibilities of biotech in Florida.”

Getting Southwest Florida a larger share of the biotechnology pie isn’t “on our radar now,” said Michael Wynn, co-chairman of The Partnership for Collier’s Future Economy, an arm of the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce.

He said he sees a “huge potential” for attracting biotechnology firms when the county is ready to redirect its focus there, citing the region’s quality of life and the plethora of CEOs that live here and whose connections with the biotech world could be tapped.

In Estero, Florida Gulf Coast University’s fledgling biotechnology program has graduated 40 students, and is setting its sights on creating a master’s and doctorate degree program, said Takashi Ueda, an associate professor of biology and the biotechnology program leader. A 241-acre research park, dubbed Innovation Hub, is planned to break ground at FGCU in early 2013 with a focus on renewable energy sources, including biotech.

Roche Breaks Ground On Indy Learning Center

Late last year, Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard joined Roche Diagnostics President and CEO Jack Phillips as well as other Roche executives and community leaders to break ground on the company’s new Learning and Development Center. The center is the first element of a $300 million site transformation investment that was announced in June 2012. The city of Indianapolis and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Roche tax abatements, tax credits and training grants.

“Roche has been an important part of our life sciences heritage for nearly 50 years now, and this expansion signals an important commitment to the region,” said Ballard.

“Central Indiana has been our home since 1964 and we are here to stay,” said Jack Phillips, president and CEO of Roche Diagnostics, adding that the company’s history and growth in the region is due in part to the community’s outstanding workforce and partnerships with the state and city that have enhanced job creation.

The capital investments at Roche’s North American headquarters on the northeast side of Indianapolis will support the company’s growing diagnostics and diabetes care businesses.  The new Learning and Development Center will host the training of more than 1,500 customers from across the nation each year.

“As a key piece of our North American Headquarters, the new Learning and Development Center will serve as a hub and gateway for worldwide operations,” said Phillips. “We felt that it was important for the building to reflect our global influence, right here in Indianapolis.”

Mississippi Medical Center Unveils New Research Hub

Construction of a new research building, which will include space for start-up biotechnology companies, is commencing this year at University of Mississippi Medical Center in Fondren. UMC leaders plan to spend $35 million initially on the eight-story shell of the Cancer and Biomedical Science Research Center and plan to finish the ground, first and second-floor interiors of the 220,000 square-foot building. That work should take about 18 months. Contractors would complete additional floors as funds become available. “We have very limited amounts of research space right now,” said Dr. John Hall, UMMC associate vice chancellor for research. “This building will help us recruit scientists, expand our research centers and institutes, and develop the Biotechnology Research Park at UMMC.”

Biotech company incubator space will occupy about 25,000 square feet on one floor. That will mark the first phase of a long-term plan to construct the Mississippi Biotechnology Research Park. The building also will house laboratory animal facilities and UMMC Cancer Institute labs. Hall said administrators will survey space needs of departments and research centers. UMMC leaders put plans on hold last year for a Mississippi Biotechnology Research Park project at the old farmers market when Congress swore off federally targeted funds, known as earmarks. The project already had received nearly $20 million in federal earmarks, and UMMC had taken ownership of the farmer’s market property, located at West Street and Woodrow Wilson Avenue. With little likelihood of further federal support, administrators opted to include biotech incubator space in the Cancer and Biomedical Science Research Center, which allowed use of the $20 million for the on-campus building.

Frederick County, MD: U.S. Biotech Research Hub

Frederick County, Maryland, is the prime location for bioscience companies to establish and continue their dynamic success in a global marketplace. Already home to more than 70 cutting edge bioscience companies, Frederick County has the second largest cluster of bioscience companies in Maryland.

In fact, Maryland is home to the highest concentration of federal biotech research facilities, anchored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Taken together, Maryland’s bioscience research complex is conservatively estimated to represent nearly $8 billion in research and development expenditures annually, third in total size only to California and New Jersey. The state also has a leadership position in academic R&D per capita, led by Johns Hopkins University, the top recipient of NIH funding in the U.S.

MedImmune is completing work on its $600-million Frederick Manufacturing Center, which will employ 250; when it ramps up to full production the center is expected to be the largest bulk biotech manufacturing facility in the United States.

Frederick County’s burgeoning biotech cluster continues to expand exponentially. A good example is MedImmune, now part of AstraZeneca, which recently completed its $250-million, 337,000- square-foot Frederick Manufacturing Center, creating 200 new jobs and bringing total employment to 450. The Frederick facility will be one of the biggest bulk biotech manufacturing facilities in the country. The workforce at the $600-million facility is expected to double when the plant ramps up to full production. MedImmune also has expanded its headquarters complex in Gaithersburg, investing $200 million and increasing the lab staff to 600.

Qiagen, a Netherlands-based supplier of sample and assay technologies in the life sciences sector, expanded its North American headquarters and manufacturing center in Germantown. The $2-million, four-phase expansion is adding about 90 new jobs. Qiagen employs more than 3,500 globally, including nearly 700 across its three locations in Maryland at Germantown, Gaithersburg and Frederick.

Lonza Bioscience invested $26 million in an expansion of its cell production and office space in Walkersville, adding 80 employees bringing total employment to 480. Additionally, Life Technologies undertook a $5 million expansion of their life sciences manufacturing distribution center.

Many new and expanding bioscience companies choose Frederick County as their preferred business location for the following reasons:

• Business Friendly Environment
• No business personal property tax
• Competitive tax structure
• Fast Track permitting assistance
• Start-up companies benefit from a high-tech incubator at Frederick Innovative Technology Center

Recent bioscience expansions also include the Fort Detrick National Interagency Biodefense Campus; new laboratories and office for Interagency Biodefense R&D and new facilities at the SAIC-Frederick, Inc./National Cancer Institute.

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley is seeking to spur biotech development with his $100-million InvestMaryland program, which would provide tax credits to insurance companies so they could invest in technology companies, including biotech research facilities. The state also is well under way with its Bio 2020 plan to invest at least $1.3 billion in biotech across the decade. The 15-year-old Maryland Venture Fund, which makes direct investments in technology and life sciences early-stage companies, has invested $25 million and returned more than double that investment.

Under the Bio 2020 plan, the Maryland Biotechnology Center was established within the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development to coordinate a host of state, university and private sector initiatives to support biotechnology innovation and entrepreneurship in Maryland. The Center works closely with university technology transfer offices and commercialization programs such as the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) and the University of Maryland’s Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS) program to foster and fund collaborative initiatives between bioscience enterprises, universities, and federal labs. In certain qualifying cases, the Center can supplement funding of industry-university and industry-federal labs research partnerships.

The Center has created a BioEntreprenuer Resources Program which assists entrepreneurs in leveraging available public and private capital. The Center also works closely with the University of Maryland School of Law’s Intellectual Property Legal Resource Center (MIPLRC). The MIPLRC provides free legal services on the subjects of business and intellectual property to start-up bioscience enterprises.

Higher-Ed Partnering For Progress In Minnesota

A biotechnology partnership has been initiated between Minneapolis Community and Technical College (MCTC) and the University of Minnesota. In addition to the transferability of the Biotechnology program in its entirety, the partnership ensures graduates of MCTC’s Biotechnology program with grade point averages of 3.5 or higher will be enrolled at the College of Biological Sciences at the University of Minnesota, one of the University’s most prestigious schools.

“Minnesota has earned its place in the medical device industry by nurturing scientists,” said LifeScience Alley President and CEO Dale Wahlstrom. “This partnership moves students between two strong academic programs to graduate studies or careers in Minnesota’s famed bioscience sector.”

The first cohort within the new biotechnology partnership includes seven MCTC students. MCTC’s Biotechnology faculty leader Rekha Ganaganur noted all seven of the students have undergraduate research or internship experiences and some have obtained jobs in the bioscience industry. She applauded the vision of Robert Elde, the dean of the University of Minnesota’s College of Biological Sciences. “Dean Elde knows Minnesotans want colleges to collaborate to enhance the biotechnology workforce of the future.” Ganaganur is grateful for the LifeScience Alley membership for serving on the MCTC advisory group which made the partnership possible.

Elde and Ganaganur pledged their programs to support students who start their academic careers at community colleges. MCTC program participants can consider themselves University students as they grow their academic careers. “The partnership is a positive example of a collaborative effort that will help ensure a pathway for students to the top scientific careers in our state,” said MCTC President Phil Davis. “I am extremely impressed with the caliber of students enrolled in our programs, and MCTC welcomes this as a way to encourage academic success.”

New Jersey New Incentives For On-The-Job Training

NJ Gov. Chris Christie Administration recently announced that financial hiring incentives are now available to employers through the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development (LWD) if they hire and train former pharmaceutical industry employees. Employers willing to hire displaced pharmaceutical workers may reduce the cost to train new employees under this new on-the-job training program, which will reimburse each employer up to 50 to 90 percent of a new hire’s salary for up to six months and a maximum of $14,000.

“As a former business owner, I fully understand the expense associated with training new employees.  This is an opportunity for employers to bring on new staff and offset their training costs. This program benefits employers and employees and will help stimulate job growth here in New Jersey,” said Dept. of LWD Commissioner Harold J. Wirths.

New Jersey employers from all industries are eligible to participate in this program, which is commonly known as an On-the-Job-Training program, as long as the prospective new hires are among the former pharmaceutical industry workers covered under a National Emergency Grant first issued to the LWD by the U.S. Department of Labor in 2010.

The program is managed in collaboration with the state’s Life Sciences Talent Network at BioNJ. It is designed to help workers who were displaced from the pharmaceutical industry due to the economic downturn by providing job training and assistance in finding new employment. New Jersey applied for the grant to keep the state’s pharmaceutical talent in the state and maintain New Jersey’s economic competitiveness. The workers covered under the grant include those who were displaced from approved locations of Bristol-Myers Squibb, Hoffman-La Roche, Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co., and Pfizer companies.

Under the new On-the-Job Training component, employers will not incur any fees and LWD or the Life Sciences Talent Network staff will pre-screen applicants for eligibility or will assist in qualifying candidates prior to the actual hire. New Jersey also is paving the way for increased cooperation between the state’s bio-pharma industry and academia.

Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno recently announced the formation of a new Council on Innovation to advise the NJ Partnership for Action on how industry and academia can better work together to improve New Jersey’s economy and attract more federal funding. Creation of the Council is among 15 recommendations in a report released by New Jersey Policy Research Organization (NJPRO) and Innovation NJ. In addition, Lt. Governor Guadagno announced Secretary of Higher Education Rochelle Hendricks as the newest member of the NJ Partnership for Action. The report recommends policy changes that would create an “innovation ecosystem,” making it easier for industry and academia to collaborate on new ideas and inventions.

Other recommendations include cutting red tape by creating standard agreements governing intellectual property rights and collaboration between entities. Identifying areas of expertise within New Jersey’s colleges and universities that can form the basis for Centers of Excellence. Designation of a single center of excellence for a topic would provide guidance to interested parties searching for a research partner; having a chief administrator at each college and university who will serve as a one-stop shop coordinator for businesses to connect with university information and resources.

Secretary Hendricks emphasized the importance of aligning businesses and academic institutions to grow New Jersey’s economy, attract more federal funds and bring innovative products and ideas to market.

“We need to be efficient and effective to win the competition to market commercial ideas and products,” she said. “Many of our academic institutions are already doing ground-breaking research. With improved collaboration among state agencies, colleges and businesses, that research can be directly connected with the economy, helping our institutions continue to compete on a national and global scale.”

Kentucky Spreads Seed Capital To Bio Start-Ups

Kentucky is offering a host of programs geared to jumpstart biotech start-ups. Commonwealth Seed Capital, LLC (CSC) is an independent fund that makes debt or equity investments in early-stage Kentucky business entities to facilitate the commercialization of innovative ideas and technologies. Investments are typically made in these specified innovation areas: health and human development; information technology and communications; bioscience; environmental and energy technologies; and materials science and advanced manufacturing.  CSC invests in companies that have a significant Kentucky presence, the prospect for substantial growth and the potential to generate an appropriate rate of return.

The Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development also offers a matching funds program to facilitate biotech start-ups. The Cabinet will match, on a competitive basis, Phase 1 and Phase 2 federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) awards received by Kentucky high-tech small businesses and those willing to become Kentucky-based businesses.

This includes matching Phase 1 federal awards up to $150,000 to support the exploration of the technical merit or feasibility of an idea or technology. The program also provides up to $500,000 of federal Phase 2 awards, which support full-scale research and development.

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Jack Rogers, Editor in Chief, Business Facilities

From the March/April 2013 issue

It’s never an easy task to stay up to date in a world where head-spinning change comes at us on a daily basis. Blink your eyes, and this morning’s newspaper is rendered obsolete by the next Twitter message that scoots across your smartphone.

The challenge to be timely and informative is even greater for a monthly magazine. But in this issue, we think we’ve met that challenge, and then some. We did it the old-fashioned way—by getting up close and personal with our most important sources.

Our Global Bio Report is the most comprehensive entry we’ve ever produced for our annual review of the high-tech sector that grows jobs in test tubes. For this year’s Bio cover story, we sent our European correspondent on a wide-ranging expedition on the continent to bring you the most important new developments from across the pond.

Here in the States, we sat down with Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley and explored how a dynamic success story unfolding down South may crown a new global leader in the automotive and aerospace sectors.

Closer to home (and to our hearts), we’ve produced a detailed look at the $60-billion recovery effort now underway in New Jersey and New York to repair the devastation wrought by Superstorm Sandy.

We hope you agree it was worth the effort. You’re invited to find a comfortable chair and start reading.

The post FIRST WORD: Delivering The Goods appeared first on Business Facilities.

The flooded Whitehall subway tunnel in Manhattan.

By Donna Clapp
From the March/April 2013 issue

The aerial photos taken after Superstorm Sandy swept through the Northeast in October 2012 told the whole story. Houses and businesses cleared away, leaving swatches of sand or burned-out ruins in their wake. Not just in some small, low-lying areas, but huge tracks of land from Atlantic City, NJ to Breezy Point, NY. The tunnels leading to Manhattan filled with water, huge trees were pulled up by their roots, and the beloved boardwalks of the Jersey Shore were either pulverized or simply washed away, with some shore towns, like Belmar, NJ covered in sand for miles. For many people in the area both their homes and businesses were wiped out in a single night.

Nearly 50 fatalities were reported in New York in the days after the storm; the death toll in New Jersey did not exceed 40 thanks to heroic efforts by NJ Gov. Chris Christie and many others to successfully evacuate nearly 1 million state residents from vulnerable areas on the Garden State’s 130-mile-long coast.

In the wake of Sandy, electricity was cut off to 7 million of New Jersey’s 8.8 million residents; 136,000 families were left homeless; more than 10 million cubic yards of debris had to be cleared from public property; the Jersey Shore, which generates more than $40 billion in revenue annually for the state, was decimated.

The night after the storm passed through, Gov. Christie said, he logged onto Google Earth and took a look at his state from space.

NJ Gov. Christie

“It was dark,” the governor said.

In the weeks immediately after the storm hit, the enormous scope of the economic damage inflicted by Sandy came into focus: In November, economic research firm Moody’s Analytics put storm losses at $49.9 billion. About $30 billion of the loss came from the physical storm damage, split fairly evenly between households, businesses and public infrastructure such as rail lines, roads and water and sewage systems. The rest of Moody’s estimate comes from lost business activity. Moody’s also estimates that Sandy will be the third most costly U.S. natural disaster, trailing only the $157 billion total economic loss from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the $54.5 billion loss from 1992’s Hurricane Andrew (totals adjusted for inflation).

In January, HuffPost reported that Sandy damaged or destroyed 305,000 housing units and disrupted more than 265,000 businesses in New York. In NJ, 346,000 housing units were destroyed or damaged, and 190,000 businesses affected.

The good news is that the governors of NY and NJ began recovery assistance efforts immediately, and both states have poured extensive monetary and human resources into helping business move back toward a level of economic equilibrium.

NJ Mobilizes Storm Relief

Gov. Christie’s administration recently unveiled its proposed Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Disaster Recovery Action Plan, which outlines how the State plans to utilize $1.8 billion in federal funding. This is the first phase of CDBG funds provided to NJ by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Additional CDBG recovery funds are expected in the coming months. With this first phase of funding, NJ is focusing primarily on helping homeowners, renters, businesses and communities impacted by Superstorm Sandy.

The Christie Administration will dedicate more than half of this funding for low-to-moderate-income households, in accordance with HUD guidelines. Additionally, per HUD guidelines, 80 percent of the funds will be dedicated to the nine most heavily impacted counties in the state: Atlantic, Bergen, Cape May, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean and Union.

Bay Head, NJ

If approved by HUD, the Christie Administration expects that more than 20,000 homeowners, more than 5,000 renters and more than 10,000 businesses will be helped, as well as dozens of local governmental units.

“This plan puts into motion the specific actions we’ve been designing to get relief out as quickly as possible to our Sandy-impacted homeowners and businesses—to reconstruct, rehabilitate and elevate homes, and to get over hurdles for our small businesses to get up and running again,” says Gov. Christie. “These programs have been carefully, but quickly designed to fill the unmet needs faced by our residents to rebuild in a safer, more enduring way, to strengthen our impacted local economies going into this summer and to help preserve the unique character of our shore communities as we’ve known them. With this first round of funding, we will also begin an aggressive marketing effort to let people both in the region and across the country know that New Jersey is rebounding and that the Jersey Shore will be open for business this summer.”

As part of the plan, the Christie Administration is setting aside $500 million in funding for the New Jersey Economic Development Authority to administer the following activities:

• Small Business Grants of up to $50,000 to eligible businesses that sustained physical damage. A $300- million allocation will fund grants that can be used for purposes including rehabilitation, new construction, equipment, inventory, mitigation, refinancing and working capital.
• No-Interest Loans for Storm-Impacted Small Businesses ranging from $100,000 to $5 million for documented physical damage not covered by other sources. These loans are intended to assist eligible businesses that suffered physical damage, as well as spur economic revitalization by providing funding for expansion and new businesses in storm-impacted areas.
• Neighborhood And Community Revitalization Programs to provide funding of up to $10 million to help communities rebuild commercial areas with public facility improvements such as streetscapes, lighting, and sidewalks and undertake other activities critical to restoring and strengthening local economies, including micro-loans for storm-related damage and loan guarantees as well as façade and code-related improvements.
• A Tourism Marketing Campaign to promote storm-impacted businesses and shore communities by letting the nation know that New Jersey is recovering and that communities are open for business. The $25-million campaign also would encourage New Jerseyans and tourists to shop local.

In addition, the NJ Business Action Center is working to increase awareness of access to state and federal programs, attending local chamber of commerce roundtables and regional/county business development events, continuing outreach to key economic development partners and collaborating with higher education. The Economic Development Authority (EDA) is leading the Main Street Disaster Relief Program, boosting the lending capacity of community development financial institutions, and, following approval of New Jersey’s Action Plan from HUD, will work to provide grants and no-cost loans to small businesses, and launch an aggressive marketing campaign to help storm-impacted businesses and communities.

President Obama joins Gov. Christie at a post-Sandy press conference in Brigantine, NJ.

“In response to this natural disaster, New Jersey has coordinated a range of multi-agency resources to assist impacted businesses and ensure they are operational quickly,” says Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno. “Providing a thorough and interdepartmental business recovery assistance program is another demonstration of our support for our business community and their workers. The Business Action Center can help businesses tap into a variety of resources that will help them begin to recover from this catastrophic storm.”

On top of these new programs, New Jersey has a number of incentives in place to help with the recovery. Many loans, disaster relief and other programs that are helping companies rebuild are being implemented at the local and state level. Here are some of the programs being offered by NJ to assist companies during the recovery process:

• REBUILD New Jersey: This program provides low-interest loans to businesses that are recovering from the storm. The loans range from $10,000 to $30,000 and can be used to pay for building repairs, equipment and inventory purchases, rent or mortgage payments, salary expenses and utility costs.
• Clean Energy Program: Any business owner that is recovering from Sandy and is located within one of the identified damaged areas may be eligible to receive enhanced incentives on high-efficiency equipment/ appliances under NJ’s Clean Energy Program.
• Main Street Disaster Relief: This program provides guarantees of up to $500,000 for commercial lines of credit to businesses that need access to cash to improve their damaged property while awaiting insurance proceeds.
• Storm Recovery Loan Program: Launched by UCEDC, a non-profit economic development corporation, this program is a low-interest, fast-turn-around, working capital loan program for small businesses damaged by Sandy. Small business owners can borrow up to $25,000 at 2 percent interest for five years with no collateral requirements. For larger capital needs, the program offers loans up to $250,000 with conventional interest rates and processing periods.

Preparing For NJ’s Future

There are also several initiatives in place to invest in New Jersey’s future growth. A $26-million investment by the state Department of Labor Workforce Development aims to connect those that are unemployed to Sandy recovery job opportunities through:

• Recovery4Jersey: Funds will support private sector companies focused on rebuilding New Jersey. Companies working with utilities, construction and other cleanup efforts will have access to this grant for up to $100,000.
• Skills4Jersey: This initiative focuses on upgrading the occupational, literacy and safety skills of current employees and the training of new employees.
• Opportunity4Jersey: Focused on filling the need for skills workers, this step of the initiative will fund training programs directly connected to the need of a number of employers.

Seaside Heights, NJ

Companies continue to invest in New Jersey, with recent announcements by Lockheed Martin, Pfizer, Amazon and others. In fact, the Partnership for Action continues to be very busy responding to companies expressing interest in the state. According to the state, the volume of requests has actually increased since Sandy.

This may be due to the fact that the state has been more aggressive than ever to let the world know that NJ is open for business. Choose New Jersey, Inc. launched an integrated marketing campaign titled “New Jersey. A State of Resilience” in January targeted at corporate decision-makers in key markets. Advertisements were strategically placed in Washington, D.C. during the Presidential Inauguration, New Orleans during the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras, and at the Site Selectors Guild Conference, as well as and on highway billboards throughout NJ. The ads will continue to run throughout the year in top metro areas based on alignment with New Jersey’s target industry sectors.

In addition to these advertisements, the Partnership for Action and Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno have been taking the message on the road, meeting with companies and site selectors face-to-face in New Jersey, as well as in other U.S. and international markets to make sure they know New Jersey is open for business.

Superstorm Sandy obviously put tremendous pressure on the state’s utility infrastructure. PSE&G announced a $3.9 billion, 10-year proposed infrastructure plan at the end of February that will raise many electric switching stations and substations throughout New Jersey to protect them against any future natural disasters. The plan is awaiting approval from the Board of Public Utilities.

NY’s Rapid Response

Just a few days ahead of Gov. Christie’s action plan announcement, NY Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo submitted New York State’s proposal for housing and business recovery programs to HUD to help New Yorkers devastated by Superstorm Sandy. These programs will provide billions of dollars in direct aid to individuals, homeowners, and small businesses using funding from the $60 billion Sandy Aid approved by Congress in January. The State designed the diverse array of programs to specifically target federal aid to New Yorkers most in need and ensure the affected communities, and the entire region, builds back smarter and stronger than before.

President Obama speaks with NY Gov. Cuomo in Staten Island.

“Superstorm Sandy was the worst storm to hit New York State and our region in recorded history, and its impact devastated homes and businesses across Long Island and the metro area,” says Gov. Cuomo. “This plan was put together with the input of homeowners and small businesses in affected communities, and it will serve as a blueprint to guide our housing and private sector recovery.”

Recently, HUD issued rules and regulations governing the use of the first $1.7 billion allocated to New York. The programs will be offered outside New York City (NYC will administer similar programs to meet the same needs its own CDBG-DR allocation of $1.7 billion). The Action Plan represents the spending plan only for this initial allocation of CDBG-DR funds and does not reflect the full scope of recovery activities being undertaken by NY through other state and federal programs.

“I look forward to building on the partnership we have created with Governor Cuomo to help communities in New York rebuild in a way that makes them stronger, more economically competitive and better able to withstand the next storm,” says Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, who also serves as Chair of the Hurricane Rebuilding Sandy Task Force.

Gov. Cuomo has made it clear that preparing for the next storm must also include some tough decisions about which areas should be restricted from rebuilding. The NY governor wants to set aside $400 million to purchase vulnerable shore properties and restore them to uninhabited wetlands.

Breezy Point, NY

NY also proposes to use $415 million to help businesses replace or repair lost or damaged inventory and equipment, repair and mitigate damaged facilities, and cover working capital needs. The funds will be disbursed through the following programs:

• Small Business Grants—$233 million: NY will direct grant funds to help businesses, including farming and agricultural operations, and non-profits that suffered physical damage or inventory loss, as a result of Superstorm Sandy. Grants of up to $50,000 to cover eligible, uncompensated losses are proposed to enable an affected business to purchase or repair needed equipment, repair or rebuild facilities that were damaged or destroyed in the storm, and/or provide the working capital necessary to sustain and grow the business. The state may extend grants up to a total grant amount of $100,000 to businesses that suffered physical damage and are at risk of closure or significant employment loss without an increase in grant size. Special Business Mitigation Grants of up to $100,000 are also proposed to cover expenses such as installing back-up generators or elevating key equipment, to help prevent damage to these businesses in future disasters.
• Small Business Loans—$130 million: NY will create a low-interest loan program to help small businesses, including farming and agricultural operations, and non-profits that are at risk because they suffered losses of inventory, or physical assets as a result of the storm. Loans of up to $1 million may be available to help these businesses purchase or repair needed equipment, repair and rebuild facilities that were damaged or destroyed in the storm, and/or provide the working capital necessary to sustain and grow the business. Loans of higher amounts may be offered to eligible businesses that are at risk of closure or significant employment loss. Terms will be flexible, with interest rates held below 2 percent for borrowers.
• Business Consulting, Mentoring—$3 million: NY will create an online network to facilitate connections between consultants and business practitioners who are willing to provide consulting and mentoring services to small businesses hit hard by the storm. Up to $3 million will be used to build the network and support the providers of the consulting and mentoring services, including financial management, real estate, marketing, legal and industry-specific assistance.
• Coastal Fishing Industry Recovery Program—$20 million: Coastal fishing supports thousands of jobs in New York State. Superstorm Sandy caused significant damage to the fisheries along New York’s coastline, and while these fisheries will also be eligible to participate in the other small business assistance programs announced today, the industry is subject to unique considerations. To help this vital industry recover, New York State will create a targeted program to support grants of up to $50,000 available to affected businesses. These grants would cover otherwise eligible, uncompensated losses and help the industry prepare now for the upcoming fishing season.
• Seasonal Tourism Industry Recovery Program—$30 million: While these seasonal tourism businesses also will be eligible to participate in the other small business assistance programs, seasonal small businesses in coastal and riverine communities require an immediate injection of support to ensure that they can reopen and operate in time for the upcoming summer season. Accordingly, the state seeks to provide grants of up to $50,000 to eligible businesses in this industry. The grants will cover otherwise eligible, uncompensated losses and working capital needs to help them prepare for the coming season.

In addition, New York State will create a dedicated infrastructure bank to help coordinate infrastructure development and investment across the disaster region. An initial capitalization of $20 million from the first allocation of CDBG-DR funds will be combined with State funds and committed to financing eligible infrastructure projects that apply for assistance through the Bank. The Bank will benefit New York by introducing a centralized approach to infrastructure related decision making rather than a project-by-project, agency specific process. The focus of the Bank’s investments will be on projects that increase the resiliency of the area’s infrastructure to withstand future threats or provide redundancy of critical systems. It is expected that the Bank will be funded with up to $200 million through subsequent allocation rounds or such other amount to be jointly determined with HUD.

The infrastructure bank will take several steps to carry out these goals, including developing a system for prioritizing infrastructure projects and initiatives, providing a centralized approach to the state’s infrastructure planning process, managing state recovery funds for infrastructure and other sources of capital, negotiating opportunities for private sector investment in infrastructure and financing approved projects. The planning processes and expertise of the New York Works Task Force will be embedded into the Bank’s functions.

The infrastructure bank may make use of funds from several sources, including federally allocated recovery funds, diverted or created revenue, proceeds from the sale of long-term debt and credit enhancements with other state entities. In addition, the bank will work with both public and private investors to raise funds to finance infrastructure developments. An advantage that the bank will have is the ability to combine several sources of funds (e.g., Federal funds with private funds) to finance projects as effectively as possible. The bank will showcase potential projects to engage the private sector in opportunities for investment in infrastructure.

New York State also will establish the Community Reconstruction Zone (CRZ) program to facilitate community-driven planning to rebuild and revitalize severely damaged communities. The state anticipates allocating approximately $25 million from this first allocation to provide planning grants to communities that suffered community-wide impacts. Later allocations will be used to implement final CRZ plans. The planning grants will facilitate the retention of outside experts as consultants to a participating community’s planning committee, as well as the completion of critical studies to determine the key vulnerabilities and needs of the community. The state will provide information and guidance to the committees to assist them in identifying and using such outside resources effectively and efficiently. It is anticipated that the CRZ program will be funded up to $500 million, an amount to be jointly determined with HUD.

Energy-related storm damage mitigation is critical for essential services facilities including, in particular, hospitals, nursing homes, and other facilities for vulnerable populations. Many essential services facilities did not have backup power systems or had ineffective backup systems that failed during the storm. As a result of this, numerous facilities had to evacuate patients which posed a greater risk to those patients than allowing them to remain in place during the storm.

To address this critical need, New York State will establish the Resilience and Retrofit Fund. The State anticipates allocating approximately $30 million from this first allocation of CDBG-DR funding to provide credit enhancement or leverage for private sector financing of energy-related mitigation projects.

Sandy affected more than 140,000 National Grid gas customers in New York City and on Long Island. In addition to the state’s efforts, National Grid has launched a $30-million Emergency Economic and Community Redevelopment Program to complement federal, state, city, insurance and other funding sources currently available to help communities and individuals rebuild. Administered through their partner HeartShare, the program targets gas customers—encouraging job retention and promoting installation of energy-efficient equipment and systems. The program has three tier levels:

1. Funding plumbing inspections (one-time, $150 bill credit eligible to residential customers)
2. Funding heating equipment for the most vulnerable residential customers, with grants available up to $6,000
3. Supporting commercial redevelopment and rebuilding communities with grants available up to $250,000

“We remain steadfast in our commitment to keep New York State a great place to live, work and prosper,” says National Grid’s NY Jurisdiction President Ken Daly. “This is our home, and we’re 100 percent determined to help our customers and communities recover from the devastating effects of Sandy.”

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It takes something really extraordinary to put an entire industry into play, but that’s what may be happening to the guns and ammo sector in the U.S.

The Newtown, CT school massacre moved gun safety legislation front and center on the national and state levels. Proposed new gun-control measures, including universal background checks, an assault weapons ban and limits on high-capacity magazines are moving towards key votes in Congress.

Meanwhile, several states already have acted to tighten their gun control laws. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo pushed through a measure in January requiring registration of an estimated one million guns already in circulation. Other provisions in the NY package require five-year renewals of handgun licenses statewide; direct mental health professionals to notify authorities of patients deemed likely to seriously hurt themselves or others; and require federal background checks for private gun sales in New York.

New York’s new law–the first new gun restrictions in the nation following the Dec. 14 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown–also lowers the capacity limit of weapons magazines from 10 rounds to seven. In Colorado, Gov. John Hickenlooper bucked a strong tradition of gun ownership in the state and succeeded in enacting a landmark new law expanding background checks on gun purchases and limiting the size of ammunition clips. Several other states are moving forward with new gun restrictions, including New Jersey, Illinois and Connecticut.

Predictably, the National Rifle Association and its allies are mounting legal challenges to the new restrictions. This week, the NRA joined the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, other sportsmen’s groups, firearms businesses and individual gun owners in a lawsuit that aims to overturn New York’s law, citing the second and 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

As the national debate heats up over new gun-control legislation, some weapons manufacturers are threatening to leave inhospitable states for less-regulated locations.

Colt Manufacturing President and CEO Dennis Veilleux told Fox News that Connecticut legislators’ proposals to enact ammunition restrictions, expand an assault weapons ban, curtail bulk purchases of handguns and create a new gun offender registry risk putting Colt and its 700 employees “in the crosshairs.”

Colt has called Connecticut home for over 175 years. Veilleux made it clear the gun maker is closely watching state legislative activity, especially Gov. Dan Malloy’s promise to ban both the purchase and sale of AR-15 rifles–one of Colt’s key products. Last week, Colt sent 400 of its employees to Connecticut’s state Capitol to personally lobby against new gun-control legislation. Meanwhile, a Malloy spokesman has stated that the governor does not want gun manufacturers to flee the state. In Colt’s case, it would mean a loss of $1.7 billion for the state’s economy

In Colorado, following the passage of Gov. Hickenlooper’s bill banning the sale of magazines capable of holding more than 15 rounds, munitions magazine manufacturer Magpul announced it will shut down its operations in the state .

As in any relocation paradigm, one community’s loss is another’s gain. In Montana, they ‘re moving quickly to put out the welcome mat for gun and ammunition manufacturers from across the country. In fact, local economic development agencies are openly targeting weapons producers.

The details of this effort were reported this week by Jeremy Vannatta, Director of Outreach, Recruitment and Marketing for the Big Sky Economic Development Authority (EDA), during a joint meeting of the Executive Committees for the EDA and its sister organization, the Big Sky Economic Development Corporation (EDC).

Vannatta said that a committee has been formed and they have compiled a list of some 300 prospective companies. Sixteen of those companies already have connections to the state and are considered prime candidates.

“We do have an industry here already,” Vannatta told the Big Sky Business Journal. There are ten gun manufacturers in the state, he said, as well as companies which manufacture components for guns manufactured by other companies.

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Baker Waterfront, Hoboken, NJ

Locus Energy, a company that develops web-based performance and portfolio management software for renewable energy systems, recently moved from New York to temporary space in Hoboken while its new, permanent location in New Jersey is renovated following damage from Hurricane Sandy.

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We don’t know where all the climate-change skeptics have gone, but we don’t expect to hear from them again.

Most of us now accept the grim reality that weather patterns which have endured for centuries have dramatically and perhaps permanently shifted in our lifetimes. A national conversation has begun on the short- and long-term measures we must take to deal with this new normal.

From Washington comes news that the U.S. has signed an agreement with the Netherlands for broad collaboration on disaster mitigation and sustainable planning.

Water-logged Holland probably has more experience than any other nation on what needs to be done to combat rising sea levels in low-lying areas. The Dutch have erected the world’s most sophisticated network of dams, floodgates, storm-surge barriers and levees to manage the tidal flow of the North Sea into Holland’s ubiquitous canals.

Two gigantic moving sea walls, each of which cost billions, are now operational and can be closed to cut off the surge of water which periodically threatens Rotterdam, Europe’s busiest port. In the U.S., serious discussion has begun about whether it will be necessary to build a similar mega-structure to protect lower Manhattan, which when it was founded in the 1600s went by the moniker — irony alert! — New Amsterdam.

The good news is that all the talk about disaster preparedness has quickly focused on a central priority: we must engineer our ongoing disaster recovery response so that whatever emerges will have a much better chance of dealing with future onslaughts. When he announced this week’s agreement with the Netherlands, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan stressed that a key goal of the collaboration is “to mitigate the impact of future natural disasters.”

Business Facilities is doing its part to keep the conversation going. The keynote address at our annual LiveXchange event (May 19-21, Westin Stonebriar, Dallas, TX) will be delivered by John Copenhaver, the former FEMA director for the Southeast region of the U.S.

Mr. Copenhaver’s talk is entitled “Self-Reliance: The Key to Disaster Recovery.” He will focus on the need for locations big and small in vulnerable areas to make sure they have the resources in place to deal with the megastorms and other disasters to come. He also will explain why it’s critical to tailor today’s disaster recovery to produce a result that makes us safer when tomorrow’s natural catastrophes arrive.

The need to do this is being embraced on the state and local level as well as in the White House. At a public policy symposium hosted this week by the New Jersey chapter of NAIOP, the commercial real estate development association, Gov. Chris Christie, NJ State Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald each addressed the ongoing Sandy recovery with an eye towards the future and the big storms to come.

A $60-billion federally funded recovery effort is now underway in the NY-NJ region. To get a sense of the scope of this undertaking, consider these statistics cited by Gov. Christie in his keynote to the NAIOP gathering:

In the wake of Sandy, electricity was cut off to 7 million of New Jersey’s 8.8 million residents; 136,000 families were left homeless; more than 10 million cubic yards of debris had to be cleared from public property; the Jersey Shore, which generates more than $40 billion in revenue annually for the state, was decimated.

The night after the storm passed through, Christie said, he logged onto Google Earth and took a look at his state from space. “It was dark,” the governor said.

Thanks to the heroic efforts of Gov. Christie and many others, more than 1 million NJ residents were evacuated before the storm hit, limiting the death toll to 40; 95 percent of the power was restored within 14 days and the debris on public lands was cleaned up within 90 days. Now, the arduous task of rebuilding has begun.

Assembly Leader Greenwald emphasized that how New Jersey rebuilds is as important as how fast. ”It is critical that the rebuilding be done in a way that diminishes the impact of future storms,” he said. “We have to make sure that we don’t have to spend this money all over again.”

In terms of climate, Sen. Sweeney noted, “the New Jersey we grew up in is not the one we live in now. We have to be ready for tornados, floods and everything else.”

Perhaps the most critical issue still to be resolved in the Sandy recovery is whether all of the damaged structures should be rebuilt in New York and New Jersey. NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo is proposing that the Empire State undertake a $400-million program to buy up the most vulnerable shoreline properties and convert them back to wetlands.

Asked whether NJ is considering following New York’s lead on this, Greenwald conceded that a serious discussion of whether to put limits on rebuilding has yet to take place in Trenton.

We’ll keep you posted.

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