$6 Million Bioscience Incubator to be Housed on Campus

On July 14, local media, community members, educators and city officials gathered on campus to hear Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon announce that GateWay will be home to a $6 million bioscience incubator. The incubator, which is set to break ground in fall 2010, will provide laboratory research space to start-up bioscience companies in an effort to strengthen the bioscience industry in Arizona. Dr. Gene Giovannini, President of GateWay, Elisa de la Vara, District Director for Congressman Ed Pastor, Ron King, President of Catapult Bio, and other industry leaders also spoke at the event to give more details on the project and show their support for the partnership between GateWay, the city of Phoenix and the business community.

"The community college is a great partner (for the city of Phoenix) to help invest in the bioscience roadmap to the future and get businesses ready to incubate then back out into the community," Mayor Gordon said. "Seventy percent of jobs come from small companies; this incubator is going to provide an economic power way beyond what we can imagine now."

The mayor also noted that the future incubator will be key in helping to create an estimated 600 future jobs provided by the successful growth of bioscience companies.

At the conference, Dr. Giovannini gave more specific details about the incubator itself, which will include 10-12,000 sq. feet of wet and dry lab space in addition to meeting rooms and office space. Besides supporting Arizona’s emerging bioscience industry, the incubator will also benefit the college’s educational goals as well. With GateWay’s available land, a light rail stop and access to appropriate business support services for tenants, a bioscience incubator complements the college’s academic programs and its goal of training students for careers in high-demand industries, Dr. Giovannini added.

To learn more about the bioscience incubator on campus, contact Mike Murphy, Director of Public Relations & Marketing, at (602) 286-8227.