The study’s end goal?
Attracting employment centers to the highway.
“We’re looking at this from an economic development perspective,” BEDC President Lynn Coyne said. “How can we quantify the projected support for employment in this area by the construction of I-69?”
Opportunities for internships and research for IU students and faculty will increase with the growth of employment centers, Coyne said.
“There will be more opportunities for faculty members to create businesses by privatizing research,” Coyne said. “Longer term, our goal is to provide a fertile atmosphere in our community to develop those ?opportunities.”
The research team will identify a group of peer communities that have dealt with situations like I-69 growth and understand the best strategies and practices used to attract employment centers to the highway. Land use planning is of interest.
“We’re focused on employment opportunities,” Coyne said. “What are the drivers and how do they work?”
The IU research community will be able to continue developing its endeavors but with increased accessibility from employment growth, Coyne said.
“Often what we find is employment centers like these support those kinds of activities,” Coyne said.
West Lafayette’s Discovery Park is a 40-acre employment center near Purdue University’s campus that has done just that. Since its launch in 2001, Discovery Park has received more than $550 million in funding for sponsored research and has generated more than 40 ?patents, according to the university’s website. As of June 2013, 57 companies started with the center’s assistance.
Purdue is one of the nation’s leaders in university-commercialized patents, producing 214 patents from 2007 to 2011, while IU produced 48 patents in that time frame. The University of Wisconsin produced the most, at 630 patents, according to the Association of University Technology Managers.
Though IU is far behind its Midwestern peers, it has come a long way in the last decade. From one start-up patent in 2000 to 13 start-ups in 2013, IU students and professors are commercializing more of their patents, though the increase is relatively slow compared to ?other schools.
"(Campus) technology facilities will be readily accessed from I-69, making them attractive sites,” Coyne said. “You cannot predict what needs discovery will have tomorrow, but that’s the hope, that it provides opportunities for those ?connections to be made.”
I-69 construction has had a negative impact on a few local businesses located along State Road 37 due to construction.
The State has taken part of Nature’s Way’s land, while Wayport ?Kennels has been ?demolished.
“Sometimes they have difficulty finding alternate locations,” Coyne said. “If that is to happen, we should seek to provide alternate ?locations for them.”
BEDC does not yet know which communities the research consultants will choose as peer-groups.
“They’re working on the scope of it now, and looking for which communities will provide the best analysis,” Coyne said. “That’s the purpose of the grant, to do the research and to see how other communities have dealt with this and what strategies they used.”
Researchers aim to complete the study by June 2015.
Duke Energy, a provider of about 7,500 megawatts of owned electric capacity to approximately 800,000 customers in Indiana, awarded BEDC its grant last week.
“We are very pleased to partner with the BEDC to help support this comprehensive research assessment,” said Bruce Calloway, Duke Energy Indiana community relations manager, in a press release. “This study will provide data for government officials and community leaders to consider as we prepare for the impact of I-69.”
The accessibility of I-69 coupled with Bloomington’s quality of life will attract many high-tech businesses ranging from life science to manufacturing to Monroe County, which will boost this trend, Coyne said.
“Were talking about advanced manufacturing, high-quality jobs, such as Cook Medical,” Coyne said. “The talent pool in the area will increase and more people will be available to take these jobs in employment areas.”
These are the positive cultural-economic factors that I-69 will offer the community, Coyne said.
“Taking advantage of the University, Ivy Tech, our quality of life, (I-69) has a great advantage to attract new employment opportunities,” Coyne said.
