Utah State University Innovation Campus Gets Bigger and Better
The Utah State University Innovation Campus is proof that good ideas catch on fast. The campus began in 1986 as a business incubator for high-tech companies‚ with one building and a couple of tenants; today it consists of 18 buildings occupied by 50 companies that employ 2‚100.
“One of our success stories at Innovation Campus is Space Dynamics Laboratory‚ a company that deals with the military and science arenas as they relate to space‚” says Teresa W. McKnight‚ interim director of the USU Innovation Campus. “SDL now has more than 400 employees and brings in roughly $40 million a year in funding. The other 50 businesses‚ industries and government agencies here also enjoy how Utah State University has been able to create such a stimulating environment.”
McKnight says a university with a business incubator is an attractive perk to many people looking to start a company.
“There are currently a lot of clever entrepreneurs in Utah who work in their basements‚ but they can’t really grow their business from there‚” McKnight says. “Innovation Campus is a perfect place for an up-and-coming company to add employees and computer equipment and then begin to intelligently expand the business.”
The campus features 450‚000 square feet of office and laboratory space. But of the 40 original acres‚ only two acres have not been developed. That has necessitated a need for expansion‚ which is taking place right now.
“The university obtained additional property that is located directly adjacent to the existing Innovation Campus‚ so we are now expanding the entire complex to more than 150 acres‚” McKnight says. “Our expansion is on land previously used by the agriculture program‚ and we have already constructed two buildings at the expanded site.”
