News Releases for December 2006
December 12, 2006
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Hoeven Presents $3.5 Million Check For UND Center Of Excellence For Life Sciences And Advanced Technologies
BISMARCK, N.D. - Gov. John Hoeven today presented a $3.5 million check to the University of North Dakota for the Center of Excellence for Life Sciences and Advanced Technologies. The center will create new jobs through the commercialization of research innovations into high-value products that are developed and made in North Dakota.
“Our Centers of Excellence program has allowed us to leverage the enormous talent and entrepreneurial spirit we have in North Dakota,” Hoeven said. “This new center will not only enable the University of North Dakota to stay on the cutting edge of research, it will also create high paying career opportunities for our students.”
The $3.5 million in state Centers of Excellence funding will leverage more than $10 million in additional funding for the project. Private sector partners for the center include Avianax, NovaDigm, Agragen, Prologic, Alion, Inc., and Ideal Aerosmith. The 50,000 square foot center will be the anchor tenant of the UND Research Foundation’s 19.5 acre Research Enterprise and Commercialization Park located on the campus of UND.
Hoeven initiated the Centers of Excellence concept in 2002, and worked with legislators to fund the earliest projects in the 2003 session. These included funding for the Center for Innovation at UND and the Center for Technology Enterprise at NDSU. During the 2005 session Hoeven proposed expanding the program to all North Dakota University System campuses through a $50 million Centers of Excellence fund, and the Legislature approved the initial $20 million appropriation. Hoeven has included an additional $20 million in funding for Centers of Excellence in his budget for the 2007-09 biennium.
A Center of Excellence is a hub of research and development on the campuses of the North Dakota University System around which related businesses expand and dynamic new businesses cluster. The $50 million in funding for the program will be leveraged with private and federal matching funds to generate a total investment in new jobs and businesses of more than $150 million.
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