New bio tech region a brilliant future for economic development

Is our Innovation Crescent the new Research Triangle?
Gwinnett Business Journal

Move over North Carolina. The Research Triangle is definitely coming up on some competition. Georgia is on the brink of becoming one of the biggest biotech centers in the world. The state's relatively new Innovation Crescent – a spectacular 13-county swath of vibrant science community between Atlanta and Athens – represents the future of things to come.

But, competition aside, the real story here is that collaboration is a beautiful thing. The far-reaching effects of cooperation have been seen for the last 50 years through the efforts of North Carolina civic leaders, high-tech companies, research facilities and universities that came together with a vision in the 1950s to create The Research Triangle.

Now, leaders in the state of Georgia have gained momentum just two years after collaborating to create their own science corridor called the Innovation Crescent. In early summer of 2008, an Innovation Crescent Regional Partnership (ICRP) was formed to boost economic development for the life science industry, attract companies, create jobs and establish the Atlanta-to-Athens region as a unique hub of life science talent.

Containing more than 95 percent of Georgia's life science assets, Innovation Crescent was conceived by regional leaders from chambers of commerce and economic development organizations including Georgia Bio Organization, the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC), the Georgia Department of Economic Development, Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, Atlanta Development Authority, Athens-Clarke County, Barrow County, Clayton County, Cobb County, DeKalb County, north Fulton County, Gwinnett County, Jackson County, Madison County, Morgan County, Oconee County, Ogelthorpe County and Walton County.

"Georgia's Innovation Crescent was definitely modeled after The Research Triangle," said Demming Bass, Gwinnett Chamber vice president of communications and public policy who previously worked for a chamber of commerce in The Triangle. "The Chamber's strategic leadership team visited North Carolina a few years ago and noted what a great job the Research Triangle Regional Partnership was doing to market their region as a brand."

In May of 2010, the ICRP became an official organization with 13 communities and organizations signing legal documents to become their own economic development entity. Nick Masino, the Gwinnett Chamber's vice president of economic development was named as the ICRP board chairman. The partnership is the marketing organization for Georgia's Innovation Crescent, which is made up of 30 research and/or educational institutions working to develop workforce to meet the demands of the rapidly growing biotech industry.

"Any time you have public and private entities come together across county lines in a region like this, it provides a united front and automatically gives you an advantage," said Masino. "Instead of competing against each other, we are working together. As the Innovation Crescent begins to build a reputation, we'll start seeing more and more life science companies join the cluster of those that are already in the area." Masino said Gwinnett will benefit from its unique position at the geographic center of The Crescent, surrounded by the major research universities and other major life science entities between Atlanta and Athens.

And so, anchored by Georgia Tech, Emory University and the University of Georgia – and boasting the world recognized Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Arthritis Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture and American Cancer Society – the foundation of Georgia's Innovation Crescent appears to be very strong.

Add a wide range of leading tech and bioscience companies with the region's highly educated workforce, and now we're talking. Game on Research Triangle. Georgia's Innovation Crescent has been launched into the science stratosphere with some high-profile players.