Content provided in partnership with

Technology Industry

Ptrp Becoming A Showcase For Biotech In State's Northwest

BT Catalyst, May, 1999 by Brad Dixon

Long home to many world-class biomedical researchers, Winston-Salem is well on its way to becoming an important hub for research and technology businesses.

Begun only four years ago to help move local researchers' work from the laboratory to the marketplace and attract new industry to the area, Piedmont Triad Research Park (PTRP) is now burgeoning in Winston-Salem.

Not even a fire that destroyed several buildings planned for inclusion in the park last fall has broken this development's momentum.

With construction recently begun on a new park building and a related development, PTRP is proving itself to be a phoenix rising from the ashes.

Most Popular Articles in Technology: An overview of continuous data protection; Why all those current ratings?; Many countries now have a mobile penetration rate above 100%, report says; The Tata Group's big telecom gamble: VSNL's recent acquisition of Tyco ...; MEASURING BANK BRANCH EFFICIENCY USING DATA ENVELOPMENT ANALYSIS: MANAGERIAL ...; More »

The recruitment of the director of one of the nation's leading research park's for the presidency of the N.C. Emerging Technology Alliance, which oversees Winston-Salem's technology business development initiatives, bodes extremely well for PTRP's continued success.

William M. Dean, former director of Cummings Research Park in Huntsville, Ala., started as the Alliance's president in early May.

Under Dean's leadership, Cummings grew substantially from 1993 through 1999, becoming one of the top 10 research parks in the country, according to Site Selection magazine. Cummings also won the 1997 Outstanding Research Park Award from the Association of University-Related Research Parks.

Local leaders are confident that Dean can help put PTRP on the international map.

PTRP's first building, Piedmont Triad Community Research Center, is filled with researchers from two of the area's many academic institutions, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and Winston-Salem State University. The second, Albert Hall, home to 16 companies, including Orthofix, Wiltek Inc. and NetUnlimited.

These were the park's only occupied buildings at the time of last year's fire, and fortunately, they escaped the flames that were caused by a construction incident.

The park's next addition will be One Technology Place, an 88,000-square-foot, four-story, $10 million building accommodating office and wet- and dry-lab space and including a 50-space underground parking garage. Begun in March, the building will be ready for occupancy in March 2000.

PTRP's growth recently spurred the development of a desirable office, hotel and restaurant complex adjacent to the park. This $21 million complex, known as City Hall South, will include a six-story city office building next to a Wingate hotel and a 475-space parking deck. Begun in January, the complex will be completed in November.

The master plan for PTRP calls for the development of four more buildings, giving the park a total of more than 600,000 square-feet of research space, and a landscaped quadrangle area linking all of the park's buildings.

Residual loft condominiums are being incorporated into the park in order to make it a total community rather than just a workplace. The 18 condominiums in Albert Hall all sold quickly, but more are planned for the park's future buildings.

A major benefit of PTRP is its location in downtown Winston-Salem, which is now the focus of an ambitious redevelopment plan.

Within walking distance of the park are numerous restaurants, banks, daycare centers and two innovative charter schools, the Downtown Elementary and Downtown Middle schools, which are available to students whose parents work or live in the downtown area.

The park is also close to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and provides easy access to Interstate 40 Business and U.S. 52.

Businesses in the park benefit from Winston-Salem's robust economy. Home to Wachovia Bank and Branch Banking & Trust (BB&T), the city is now the 11th-largest financial center in the country and is consistently ranked as one of the top five best large metropolitan areas for small business in the country by Entrepreneur magazine.

Technology business development became a top priority for Winston-Salem in the early 1990s when local leaders realized what potential innovations coming out of Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Winston-Salem State University hold for business creation in such areas as biotechnology and pharmacology.

To link researchers at these institutions with venture capitalists and others interested in commercializing scientific innovations, the Greater Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce and local universities held the first two Connectivity Expos in 1996 and 1998 with assistance from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. The next Expo is scheduled for 2000.

The expos, where local researchers display their scientific innovations, have led to the creation of local technology businesses, commercial partnerships between local researchers and national companies, and the recruitment of technology companies to the research park.

As a result of these successes, the number of local researchers applying for patents and considering business opportunities is soaring.

"It's contagious," said Dr. Douglas Maynard, chairman of Wake Forest medical school's radiology department and chairman of the local Chamber's Technology Council. "They're becoming much more aware of the possibilities."

Technology Industry

Ptrp Becoming A Showcase For Biotech In State's Northwest

BT Catalyst, May, 1999 by Brad Dixon

Find Research Guides for:

Find Featured Titles for: Home & Garden

Most Popular Articles in Technology

Most Popular Publications in Technology