University research parks trade competition for cooperation

Maryland's five university-based technology research parks traditionally have existed in an atmosphere of competition: Interstate 270's gleaming new biotech corridor versus Baltimore's renowned universities; private Johns Hopkins University versus the public University System of Maryland.

Not anymore.

The research parks yesterday announced they have formed a regional research park industry association, called Research Parks Maryland. They said it is the first such regional association in the country.

The organization — funded at the moment with donations from its members — exists to create a stronger voice in the Legislature for the state's research parks. It will also help market the region to companies considering relocating to Maryland, said its founders.

“The one segment of [Maryland's] innovation infrastructure that didn't have any formal communication vehicle was research parks,” said Brian Darmody, assistant vice president for research and economic development at the University of Maryland, College Park.

The number of parks is set to increase in the near future: the University of Maryland, Baltimore just opened the first building of its new BioPark; Hopkins is helping to develop the coming East Baltimore Biotechnology Park; and Montgomery College is developing its own Technology Park.

“It happened that research parks are clearly going to be a larger part of the state's innovation infrastructure,” Darmody said. “We decided, ‘Let's form an organization.'”

The parks are intended to foster partnerships between the corporations that reside in them and researchers at the affiliated universities, facilitating technology transfer and giving researchers the chance to spin off their own companies in the parks.

Assets

University research parks are a critical portion of Maryland's technology and biotechnology economic development efforts, capitalizing on one of the state's most precious assets — it's academic institutions, said Aris Melissaratos, secretary of the Department of Business and Economic Development.

All the state's grants from the Economic Development Opportunities Fund, known as the Sunny Day Fund, during the administration of Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. have gone to research parks, Melissaratos added. The fund has sent $5 million to College Park's research park, $4 million to the West Side BioPark, $2.5 million to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County's park and $4 million to the East Side park.

“We believe the universities' research strength will draw the right kind of companies,” he explained. “It's a good way to place the Sunny Day money in more than one company.”

Research Parks Maryland eventually plans to issue marketing materials featuring all the parks and their attributes. DBED can use the material to recruit potential tenants, Darmody said.

The group is sponsoring an event this week at the national Association of University Research Parks' Winter Workshop in Washington, and eventually will likely hold regular meetings.

Elaine Amir, executive director of Hopkins' Montgomery County campus, said the unity will benefit all the parks and overcome the problems caused by the parks' usual competitiveness.

Cooperation

“By pooling our resources and taking inventory of what we have, we can better market and let potential tenants, potential collaborators, come and join us,” Amir said. “This is a big step for us to cross over the barriers that have traditionally kept us apart, but I think we're in a new era now.”

Ellen Hemmerly, executive director of the UMBC Research Park Corp. and past president of the national research park organization, said the spirit of competition, while healthy in some ways, can be damaging to the regional efforts.

“Because there is some potential for short-term competition, that sometimes inhibits parks from working together,” she said. “We're taking the longer view that there … will be enough opportunities for everyone. We all have our particular strengths, and if there are competitive issues we can work those out.”

It is just that spirit of competition, Hemmerly said, that has kept similar associations from forming in other high-tech and biotech hotspots in the nation, like Massachusetts and California.

Research Parks Maryland's Web site should launch in the next few days.