By Bernadette Gray-Little
University of Kansas Chancellor
Quick Facts about Bioscience & Technology Business Center:
There was no more gratifying way to spend Oct. 5th, the Monday of my eighth week in Lawrence, than at a groundbreaking. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with a team of enthusiastic city, county, university, state and federal officials, we turned Kansas topsoil to make way for the Bioscience & Technology Business Center on KU’s West Campus.
We were cheerful for good reason: With the national economy in recession, Lawrence, Douglas County, the state, and KU were teaming together to grow and diversify our local economy.
This incubator will give entrepreneurs the facilities and resources they need to get new businesses off the ground, as well as provide a venue for collaborations between KU researchers and existing technology firms.
It will give us a tool for ensuring that discoveries made at KU lead to jobs that stay in Lawrence and Douglas County. The incubator is an example of what can be accomplished when the community, campus and other partners unite around a single goal.
Financial partners include Kansas Bioscience Authority, the City of Lawrence, Douglas County, the Lawrence-Douglas County Bioscience Authority, KU and KU Endowment, with additional support from the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce. The facility will be managed by the Lawrence Regional Technology Center.
This partnership is just one way we can strengthen the working relationship between “town and gown.” Lawrence and Douglas County already give so much to KU, starting with the welcome the community extends not just to me, but to every Jayhawk.
Ties between the community and KU run deep. We rely on many area businesses and vendors to keep the university operating, while our students and employees value the myriad opportunities available to give back through local community service organizations.
From this foundation, I believe we can further enhance the relationship between Lawrence and the university. Partnerships such as the bioscience incubator are just one way we can work together to create a stronger, more prosperous community.
The quality of life in Lawrence is a key part of our recruiting pitch as we attract new students, faculty or staff members to KU. And I know from personal experience that it doesn’t take long before this community feels like home.
My husband Shade and I are grateful to you and the entire Lawrence community for your warm welcome as we have made our home here. We have enjoyed exploring Lawrence and meeting many of you, and we look forward to continuing to learn about this great community.
I also want to thank Tom Kern and the Chamber’s staff and leadership for the insights they have provided as I begin this exciting and challenging tenure as Chancellor.
Every good relationship begins with communication, and I appreciate the opportunity the Chamber has provided to send this message to you. I also would like to invite you to visit http://connect.ku.edu to subscribe to our campus newsletter, the Oread, or connect with KU in a variety of other ways.
Our future is rich with opportunities for new partnerships and collaborations between Lawrence and KU. I look forward to working with you and the rest of the community to realize those opportunities so that we can all prosper.