San José, Ca., March 19, 2004 

  ----  San Jose’s new Bioscience Incubator and Innovation Center will open in a few weeks with a seasoned management team and its first start-up companies that will lead the growing bioscience industry in Silicon Valley.

The team of San José State University Foundation and Bay Area Global Access Innovation Network (GAIN) was selected by the San Jose Redevelopment Agency this week to operate and manage the new bioscience incubator that will see the completion of construction in early June.

“The City’s return on investment from these incubators has been the generation of thousands of new jobs, hundreds of millions of dollars of new capital, and successful new businesses that have stayed and grown in San José,” said Harry Mavrogenes, interim executive director of the San Jose Redevelopment Agency.

“Our software business incubator in downtown San Jose alone has been responsible for attracting $475 million in capital, creating 2,500 jobs, and producing more than 130 new products.”

GAIN, a partnership between Building Blox Solutions and the Women’s Technology Cluster, has long experience in managing and operating incubators, labs, and research and development facilities, along with business development programs that nurture and support the growth and success of early-stage companies in the field of life sciences.  

During a tour of the new facility in the Edenvale Industrial Park in South San Jose on Wednesday, Mayor Ron Gonzales and Councilmember Forrest Williams were impressed with the state-of-the-art laboratory facilities that will be home 15 to 20 bioscience and biotechnology start-ups in the coming year.

“This center continues our city’s support for technology innovation that creates jobs for our residents and opportunities for our entrepreneurs in San Jose,” said Gonzales.  “We will build on our strong experience with business incubators to develop the next generation of California’s biotech enterprises that will contribute to our long-term economic prosperity.”

According to Williams, who represents South San Jose on the City Council, “We have a great track record in helping to turn innovative ideas into thriving new businesses. With these strategic investments, San José will grow new companies, create new jobs, and strengthen our region’s economy.  I am very proud of what we have done here.”

The San Jose innovation center is the fourth in a series of successful business incubators established by the City of San Jose and the Redevelopment Agency over the past ten years to provide supportive environments for new companies in industries critical to the long-term prosperity of San Jose and Silicon Valley.

It will become the bioscience incubator’s onsite management team and provide business assistance, support services, educational and mentoring programs, networking opportunities, technology transfer and commercialization services, business resources, and links to the venture capital investment community.

The San Jose State University Foundation provides the entrepreneurial infrastructure to manage the university’s 750 research, education-related, and public benefit projects and partnerships totaling $60 million annually.  SJSU Foundation currently operates San Jose’s Software Business Cluster, Environmental Business Cluster, and International Business Incubator.

“The commitment by the city’s leadership sends a strong and clear message to the business community – we will help you to succeed,” said Mary Sidney, chief operating officer of the foundation.

 “This will both attract entrepreneurs and ensure they have what they need to get up and running quickly in a very competitive economic environment.”

The foundation also will link specialized and multi-disciplinary capabilities of San Jose State University faculty, students and programs with incubator companies, as well as develop opportunities for workforce development and training.  

Bay Area GAIN partner Kathleen Imhoff pointed to their experience that has helped the growth of start-up companies.  “We bring together a powerful network of investors, foundations, services, corporate partners, entrepreneurs and academic institutions that will focus on the success of San Jose bioscience start-ups,” she said. “We will be a strategic partner to diversify San Jose’s economy and achieve success benefiting start-ups and the community.”

The San Jose Bioscience Incubator and Innovation Center features shared facilities and equipment with wet labs, dry labs, office space, tissue culture facilities, and conference rooms. .  The co-location of 15 to 20 young companies will allow for ample networking opportunities and technology cross-fertilization that supports innovation.  

Edenvale Technology Park and San José also offer excellent opportunities for business expansion and growth of new businesses once start-ups are ready to leave the incubator.

Also located in the Edenvale Technology Park are Stryker Endoscopy and Clinimetrics, and 290 other technology companies employing over 15,000 people (including IBM, Hitachi, Solectron, Intel, Sunrise Telecommunications, Power Integration, Northrop Grumman, Lynux Works, Electroglas, Jabil Circuits, Photon Dynamics).