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The Business Journal of Phoenix
April 23, 2004
Our View
Promoting bioscience puts cooperation first among cities
Mary Manross, Greg Stanton, Mark Mitchell and Pam Goronkin
Phoenix , Scottsdale and Tempe are among the Valley cities working to carve out a significant role in the bioscience industry.
Unlike community and economic development pursuits of the past, the biosciences present us with significant new opportunities and a new model for business attraction -- one that replaces competition with cooperation.
If we, as a region, are going to succeed in grabbing this high-tech brass ring, we simply must work together. The good news is, we understand that new fact of life. We are happy to be teammates.
The bioscience industry itself is collaborative. Scientists and researchers are successful through the sharing of ideas, research and resources. They expect no less of the communities courting their presence.
Our immersion into biotechnology research is truly a regional effort. And further, it isn't some "down the road" dream. It is real, and it is already happening:
- Phoenix is constructing what soon will house the International Genomics Consortium headquarters. Construction is under way for the Translational Genomics Research Institute research laboratories.
- Soon we will break ground on a joint Arizona State University/University of Arizona research facility in Copper Square . The facility will be just south of the IGC/TGen headquarters. Both ASU and the UA are planning a significantly increased presence in downtown Phoenix , and we are excited that Northern Arizona University and the Maricopa Community Colleges also have made a significant commitment to the downtown university environment.
The cutting-edge research of IGC and TGen, coupled with university-level education and clinical research in a single location, is an opportunity for scientific collaboration that can result in significant health care improvements and profound discoveries that can save thousands of lives.
- Scottsdale has been involved in TGen's early research activities through a partnership with Scottsdale Healthcare. Scottsdale 's first major venture into the development of new biosciences research facilities involves the new "Collaborative Research Facility" on the Mayo Clinic Scottsdale campus. This facility involves a partnership between the city, the Mayo Clinic and TGen to create a lab to accelerate the development and approval process of new drugs for skin cancer research.
- Tempe is an obvious contributor. The impacts of ASU, the ASU Research Park , biodesign and a strong core of existing biotech and technology companies reach across the region.
- ASU also is committed to creating a Biodesign Corridor that includes five research buildings. The first of these, the Arizona Biodesign Institute, will consist of 170,000 square feet of lab and office space for research into biologics and therapeutics and nano-bio systems. The $69 million facility will open later this year.
- The ASU Research Park , a 320-acre corporate business complex, offers companies access to university services, including the ASU library system, lab facilities, resources and faculty expertise in research and technical writing.
Finally, this summer, the state of Arizona and the cities of Phoenix , Scottsdale , Tempe and others will host a trade show exhibit at "Bio 2004" -- a national gathering of the bioindustry. We will be working together to highlight the positives of the entire state to prospective firms.
It may have taken awhile, but we have learned that Phoenix , Scottsdale and Tempe no longer are competing against each other. Instead, together, we are competing against other regions, states and nations. It really is a global economy. And that makes parochialism self-defeating, rather than self-serving.
As community leaders, we are committed to the strategic, long-range goal of diversifying our economy and bringing higher-wage jobs to the Valley. Our goal is the same; working together will get us there together.
Unless all of us succeed, none of us will.
Greg Stanton is a Phoenix city councilman and chairman of the Phoenix Genomics Subcommittee; Mary Manross is mayor of Scottsdale; Mark Mitchell is a member of the Tempe City Council and chairman of the Tempe Tourism and Economic Development Committee; and Pam Goronkin is a member of the Tempe City Council and the Tempe Tourism and Economic Development Committee.
As always, if you have comments or questions about this or any other issue, please feel free to call me anytime at 602-262-7491, send e-mail to greg.stanton@phoenix.gov or visit my Web site at phoenix.gov/DISTRICT6.
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