KALAMAZOO ? About half the companies located in Michigan?s 11 Smart Zones can be found in the Western Michigan University Business Technology and Research Park, a $150 million initiative at WMU?s Parkview Campus.
More than two dozen companies, employing some 400 people, have either relocated to the BTR or have begun business life there, said Bob Miller, WMU?s Associate Vice President of Community Outreach.
?The BTR Park, at just five years old, is nearly 80 percent built out,? Miller said. ?The average build out of a University research park of this size is eight to 12 years. Almost half the companies at the BTR Park are in the Southwest Michigan Innovation Center.?
Western Michigan University decided to locate the BTR park next to its new College of Engineering and Applied Sciences for three reasons, Miller said:
It is good business for the City of Kalamazoo. Because the land belongs to WMU, it is tax exempt. The University thought that by selling land parcels to the private sector it could put property back on the tax rolls and add to Kalamazoo?s general fund.
WMU also wanted to be more pro active in economic development by helping to retain, recruit and create high-technology businesses. That?s why the University launched the Bioscience Research Commercialization Center to support the tenants in the SMIC and other biotech startups spearheaded by Southwest Michigan First.
The third and most compelling reason from the University?s perspective was to attract the best and brightest from the private sector. A partnership with private-sector companies in pursuit of the University?s core mission of research instruction would create a win-win for both the new companies and WMU, Miller said.
?New companies work with faculty and staff on research projects and can also tap into a recruitment stream of students,? Miller said. ?Similarly the University gains from private sector technology. And students benefit because they now have an opportunity for internships, sponsored R&D projects and part-time employment at tenant companies.?
Realizing that WMU could not be all things to all people, WMU decided to limit the park to tenants that fit with the University?s and the community?s strategic plan for growth and development.
?We zeroed in on advanced engineering, life sciences and information technology,?? Miller said. ?Well over 400 employees are working there, not counting University personnel. And based on the new-tenant occupancy pace, it seems to have been a wise decision.?
