A $43-million investment by the city is but one part of the forthcoming Translational Genomics Research Institute in Phoenix, backed by the expertise of the state's three largest universities.

Arizona Becomes
a Biotech Player

Arizona may boast one of the most diverse economies in the region with the Phoenix metro area providing considerable magnetism.
        "The Phoenix labor base attracts firms more than anything," says John Wyss, managing principal of The Staubach Company's Phoenix office. "Because of firms in aerospace, microchip technology and other high-tech industries, there's a pretty good base of engineering talent. It's a young, motivated work force. It's also an area where executive talent likes to live."
        Driving around the Phoenix metro area is a lot easier these days with the completion of Loop 101, a 60-mile ride that cost $2.3 billion and took 15 years to complete. The last two miles of the arc opened in April.
        At the top of the Phoenix news ticker these days is the selection of the city by the International Genomics Consortium for a biotech lab and research facilities. Phoenix will also be home base to Arizona's Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGRI), formerly known as the Arizona Bioscience & Biomedicine Institute.
        Headquarters for both institutes will rise from a 13-acre (5-hectare) parcel of downtown real estate contributed by the City of Phoenix, creating a bioscience/education campus. A target opening date of October 2004 has been set. TGRI is a public/private collaboration involving the state, foundations and the University of Arizona, Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University. Phoenix will invest $43 million in the effort.
        Pat Grady, director of economic development for the City of Phoenix, says the institutes may spur development of a biotechnology corridor from Flagstaff to Tucson. While homegrown biotech companies will likely dot the landscape, he figures research activity will also attract established companies to the region.
        "We will have the type of research activity to help us create a critical mass, not only for downtown Phoenix, but for the whole state," Grady says. "We are in the process of working on an economic development strategy to capitalize on this."

Besides its new $2-billion fab, Intel Corp. is also helping to build a work force, through the Pintel Project, a school-to-work program pursued in collaboration with Central Arizona College (CAC) and five Western Pinal County high schools.

        Integral to creation of the TGRI was the hiring of Dr. Jeffrey Trent as president and chief science officer. He is currently scientific director of the National Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health. Trent's goal is to build the TGRI into a world-class research institute focusing on applying the science of genomics to finding cures for disease.
        Scottsdale snared the Western regional office of Waste Management, which moved from San Rafael, Calif., in August. Larry O'Donnell, group vice president, says Scottsdale got the nod due to its location in a key market, good airport access, affordable housing and quality-of-life attributes.
        In Eloy, about 45 miles south of Phoenix, Otto Industries, a plastics injection molding company, will make an initial $10-million investment to build a 35,000-sq.-ft. (3,251-sq.-m.) plant. The facility will produce two-wheeled waste and recycling containers for customers in the western and central U.S. Phillip Trussell, Otto's vice president, said proximity to markets, good interstate highway and rail access, good labor availability and a stable electricity supply were among the company's considerations in choosing Eloy.
        Other recent moves to Arizona include the American Italian Pasta Co., which broke ground for a $45-million facility in Tolleson in April. The company is the largest U.S. producer of pasta.
        "Because of its location in the heart of the desert durum wheat region, the Tolleson location is a natural fit," says Timothy S. Webster, company president and CEO. Webster says he expects the company to realize significant logistics and transportation savings.