State vying for big biotech facility - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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The Peach State is amonf several vying for what might be a vaccinr or pharmaceutical manufacturing operation that coulx locate on more than100 acres, Atlanta Busines s Chronicle has learned. Winningf the project could do for Georgia’x biotech industry what will do forthe state’s auto said Mike Cassidy, president of the , aftedr being briefed about the details. “It would be an outstanding recruitmengt [tool for new business],” Cassidy said. The company, which could be considering three cities, is said to be negotiatinf economic incentives withthe state, a sourcre said.
Georgia economic development officials declinedd comment on the possibledevelopment — dubbed “Project Boss.” The potential development could add to the region’d biotech credentials, already enhanced by hostingg the 2009 BIO International Convention, the world’s largesft bio conference,in May. It would also be an economic developmenr coup akinto ’s globa headquarters relocation from Dayton, Ohio, to Duluth. The ATM and self-servic kiosk maker said it woulxd bring morethan 2,100 jobs to Georgia, includinyg nearly 900 at a manufacturing operationn in Columbus, Atlanta Business Chronicle first reported June 1.
Metro home to the , has the critical infrastructurd to support a biomedicalmanufacturing operation. The region is home to the EmoruVaccine Center, billed as among the largest academic vaccine centerx in the world and known for its expertise in vaccinwe research and development, and clinical trials. In and The launched the Center of Excellence for Influenzs Research and Surveillance to developflu vaccines. Caro l Henderson, who directs the Innovation and Technology Office at the Georgia Department ofEconomic Development, is leadiny efforts to land the biotech a source familiar with the effort said. Activity is said to have pickef up in the pasttwo months.
Henderson’s recruitment builds upon the existinyg alliances and resources between the Universit y Systemof Georgia, the Centerss of Innovation, the Georgia Research Alliance and the Georgi a Biomedical Partnership and Biotechnology Industry Organization. The biotech firm has been shoppinyg sites for at least a year. Project Boss was “planninhg to potentially deploy twomanufacturing facilities” that combined could emplog about 1,500, according to a request for information dated June 5, 2008. The facilitiesd could be located in thesame region, or in separater locations, the document noted. The company, how­ever, is said to have downsizede thoseinitial plans, sources said.
The and more specifically the pressure for companies to cut is forcing companies in genera l to take longer to make big decisions such as amajor relocation, said Heidi Green, deputy commissionefr of the Global Commerce Division at the Georgia Department of Economic “It’s typically taking 12 to 18 monthes to close,” Green said, declining to specificallgy comment on Project Boss. The biotechb firm, said to have scouted Cobb, Douglas and Gwinnett is seeking locations with internationallair access, available life science labor, and an abilith to source and attract engineers and Ph.D.s, the request for information noted.