By Eric Fetters
Herald Writer
Snohomish County could have the region’s first technology and research park, mixing university labs and high-tech firms at one site, if the University of Washington and local leaders decide to pursue the idea.
Everyone involved in a two-day workshop to explore the concept cautioned that the whole project is just a dream right now, but they are talking about it.
About three dozen people representing government, business and the UW heard from national experts and looked a potential sites on Wednesday and Thursday. The Everett workshop was jointly organized by the county, the Economic Development Council of Snohomish County and the UW.
"I think it’s fair to say there’s some momentum coming out of this," Stephen Holt of Snohomish County said after the workshop wrapped up.
Holt was one of the officials who piled into a chartered bus for a trip to two sites under consideration for a research and technology park: the county’s Cathcart landfill south of Snohomish and property just north of Woodinville.
A research park could serve as a central location for high-tech and biotech companies, commercial firms and related resources. Nationally, there are about 150 such research parks, with another 150 in various stages of development, said Walter Plosila, vice president of public technology management for the Battelle research organization.
While the idea for such centers has been around for decades, many schools and governments are giving new attention to it.
"Lots of universities around the country are realizing that they’re major players in economic development, and many counties are discovering they need a higher-education institution for this knowledge-based economy," Plosila said.
Washington State University has a small research park that focuses on agriculture, but Western Washington is without one despite its large number of technology companies.
"The idea of a research park is something the university would be interested in being involved with," said Jack Faris, UW’s vice president of university relations.
"We are the knowledge base of the tech economy," he said, pointing out the university has spun out about 140 technology-based businesses during the past 20 years.
The university already owns the Wellington Hills site near Woodinville, which officials looked at Thursday. The school originally planned to build a branch campus on the site before choosing Bothell instead. With 100 acres that abut the south Snohomish County line, the property includes the 79-acre Wellington Hills Golf Course.
The Cathcart landfill site totals 550 acres, including the county landfill that closed in 1992 and the never-used regional landfill area.
Located just west of Highway 9 and north of the coming 132nd Street SE extension, the county council has not settled on any certain use for the land, said county public works director Peter Hahn. But it would be an attractive location for a research and technology park, he said.
Aside from where it would be located, the raw ingredients needed for a research and technology center already exist in the area, said Duc Duong, president of a Maryland consulting business who has been involved with research parks there. If such a park were created, it would economically benefit the county and spur the expansion of the area’s existing tech and biotech corridor, he said.
You can call Herald Writer Eric Fetters at 425-339-3453
or send e-mail to fetters@heraldnet.com.
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