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Burgeoning Biotech

Arkansas has also paid significant attention to growing its biomedical/ biotech industries. The 1999 Arkansas General Assembly amended the Biotechnology Development and Training Act to provide additional incentives to the industry. Tax credits for qualified R&D expenses, cooperative research costs, biotech/biomedical training, and building, equipment, higher education partnerships and intellectual property costs were reduced by 20-30 percent. The state also agreed to provide a 5 percent tax credit on construction costs for expansion, renovation or purchase of biotech facilities and equipment.

Arkansas already has a good biotech foundation with four university research facilities in Fayetteville, Little Rock, Stuttgart and Pine Bluff. Also, in Pine Bluff, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has its National Center for Toxicological Research, and a cluster of other federal research labs are located along "Research Row" in the Stuttgart area.

Adding to this, the new Phillips Community College in Stuttgart is currently developing curricula in conjunction with the nearby research labs to ensure a vital work force. And at Pine Bluff, land is being purchased adjacent to the FDA lab for the development of Pine Bluff Bioplex. "The Bioplex is being deeded over by the Army," says Alice Smith, director, Special Projects, with UAMS College of Medicine. "And that will be a 1,500-acre (608-hectare) research park. Fayetteville also has a research park just getting off the ground."

The move that has earned the most interest of late has been the launch of a biomedical/biotech business incubator initiative at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences campus in Little Rock. Plans are to construct the incubator building later this year. The incubator program already has nine start-up companies in place, with two more in the pipeline.