Satellite office is first of four planned to strengthen biotechnology across the state
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., June 16, 2003 - The North Carolina Biotechnology Center, in partnership with leading organizations in the Piedmont Triad, today dedicated a new satellite office here to help develop the area's growing biotechnology industry.
"This Biotechnology Center office has tremendous implications for not only this area but for the entire state," Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue said at a dedication ceremony at the Piedmont Triad Research Park, where the satellite office is located. "I believe this (Triad area) will become the star in the biotechnology crown for North Carolina."
The satellite office will support biotechnology research, business and education throughout the greater Greensboro, Winston-Salem and High Point area and surrounding counties.
"The Biotechnology Center is committed to developing biotechnology in all areas of the state, and this new office will help us do that for the Piedmont Triad," said Leslie Alexandre, president and CEO of the Biotechnology Center. "The Triad has outstanding capabilities in biotechnology, and we want to help translate them into business growth and new jobs."
The Piedmont Triad office is the first of four satellite offices planned across the state to strengthen biotechnology development in areas beyond the technology-rich Research Triangle area of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill. Other offices are planned for Asheville, Charlotte and Eastern North Carolina.
The dedication ceremony and reception, held under a tent on a cordoned-off Chestnut Street, was attended by about 200 people. Later the Biotechnology Center's Board of Directors met at another location in Winston-Salem, its first meeting ever beyond the Center's headquarters in Research Triangle Park.
The Piedmont Triad office is the result of a partnership among the Biotechnology Center and several organizations in the area, including Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Idealliance, the Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce and the Piedmont Triad Partnership. In addition, 21 county commissions, city councils and economic development groups in the region have unanimously passed resolutions endorsing the office.
Wake Forest University Health Sciences will donate $200,000 over two years to staff the office with a director and an assistant and will provide office space in the research park. Forsyth Technical Community College will donate two computer workstations, and WinstonNet, a local nonprofit organization, will provide high-speed Internet access. The Biotechnology Center will provide $25,000 and possibly more in the future, depending on availability of funds from the General Assembly.
The Biotechnology Center has begun a search for a director to lead the Piedmont Triad office and expects to have one in place later this summer. The director and a full-time assistant will coordinate closely with the Center's 50-person staff in Research Triangle Park.
The Piedmont Triad is home to about four dozen biotechnology and related life-science companies employing more than 7,000 people. Among the companies is TransTech Pharma, a small drug-discovery company that employs 65 people in High Point.
"This area has all the ingredients for making a biotechnology company grow and flourish, said Dr. Adnan Mjalli, founder, president and CEO of TransTech. Mjalli, speaking at the dedication ceremony, said he chose to locate in the Piedmont Triad after the Triad and North Carolina compared favorably to other states including California, Ohio, New York and New Jersey.
The Biotechnology Center is a private, non-profit corporation supported by the General Assembly. Its mission is to provide long-term economic and societal benefits to North Carolina by supporting biotechnology research, business and education statewide.
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Contact: Barry Teater, Director of Corporate Communications, at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, 919-541-9366.
