History of the Park dates to the 1980s
The seeds for the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park were
planted in the 1980s, when members of Richmond’s planning
and civic communities discussed the possibility of establishing
a research park to attract life sciences companies to the
downtown area. Serious conversations about a research park
did not begin until 1990, when newly appointed Virginia Commonwealth
University President Eugene P. Trani, Ph.D., began to pursue
the idea with members of city government, Richmond Renaissance
and other organizations.
VCU President Eugene P. Trani and Park President Robert T. Skunda
|
Planning for the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park began
in January 1992 as a joint action of VCU, the city of Richmond
and the commonwealth of Virginia. The Park was incorporated
as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation in May 1992, and, in
July 1993, the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park Authority
began operations as a mechanism for financing development
and construction of facilities in the Park.
The Park officially opened in December 1995 with the completion of the
Virginia BioTechnology Center, which houses administrative offices and
the state’s first technology incubator. Since that time, the Park
has continued to expand and after completion of the new Research and
Technology Center for Philip Morris USA, total development in the Park
will exceed 1.2 million square feet of space in nine buildings, representing
a capital investment approaching $500 million.
When fully developed, the downtown Park will contain 1.5
million square feet of research, office and laboratory space
in more than a dozen buildings and employ 3,000 scientists,
researchers, engineers and technicians, working in fields
that include drug development, medical diagnostics and devices,
biomedical engineering, environmental biosciences, and forensics
and laboratory services.
The Park expanded consulting and entrepreneurial education and business assistance services available to early-stage companies with the creation of the Virginia Biosciences Development Center.
The Park also has enhanced its mission beyond development of life sciences companies in the city of Richmond to one that will “promote the advancement, nurture the environment and accommodate the functions of a thriving biosciences community in the Greater Richmond area.” To that end, the Park established relationships in 2001 and 2002 at satellite facilities in the neighboring counties of Chesterfield and Henrico, extending its reach beyond its original 34-acre downtown Richmond campus.
|
