Collegiate Times

Virginia Tech's Corporate Research Center has received a $1.98 million federal grant to expand its facilities and nearly double its size.

Phase II of the CRC will expand the center northward toward Tech's campus on property that is owned by the university.

The first stage of expansion is currently expected to cost around $4 million and is aided by the grant from the Economic Development Administration, an agency of the Department of Commerce.

Virginia Tech Foundation, Inc., the nonprofit organization that handles private university assets and owns the CRC will match the grant's funds to begin the expansion.

Ray Smoot, chief operating officer and secretary-treasurer of the Foundation said university funds would not be used toward the expansion. The initial $4 million will go toward infrastructure development, roads, and utilities.

The Foundation spent a total of $120 million on the construction of Phase I, an amount similar to Smoot's expectations for the cost of the CRC.

"I think it's safe to say that when all is finished, we will have spent at least $250 million in the development of the CRC," Smoot said.

Phase II of the CRC received one of about 1,200 grants to be given this year. EDA grants are provided to economically distressed areas of the country to fund projects that could stimulate job growth and the local economy.

"Virginia Tech is a major contributor to the economy in the New River Valley region," said Bryan Borlick, acting director of public affairs for the EDA.

Borlick said the EDA recognized the CRC as a creator of 2,000 jobs and home to 140 high-tech businesses. This is the third EDA grant provided for CRC development.

"That is certainly one of the largest, if not the largest single initiative that has increased employment in southwestern Virginia over the past five years," said Smoot.

The most recent grant was provided in 2002 for construction of new facilities in Phase I and totaled $2 million.

Borlick said Montgomery County remains qualified as an area eligible for grant consideration because the per capita income is 35 percent below the national level. Regions qualify for a grant if their per capita income is 80 percent or less of the national average.

"We're jut really excited that the federal government had the confidence in us to give us all this money," said Joe Meredith, president of the CRC.

Meredith said Phase II would have a quality over quantity focus.

"What I would like to see accomplished next is more focus on the sophistication and quality of the research, as opposed to just stacking up more buildings and more jobs and more companies," he said.

Borlick said Blacksburg and the surrounding community could benefit from this expansion. "It's critical in the 21st century for regional economies to tap into what universities offer," he said

The CRC, launched in 1986, houses over 100 private research companies and is also used for university research programs.

Meredith, a Tech alumnus, said the Phase II expansion will provide new job opportunities not only for outside researchers, but for Tech students and graduates as well.  

"They will see internships, co-ops, summer hires, and the ability to start working with these companies during their  studies," Meredith said.

Approximately half the researchers working at the CRC hold degrees from Tech, Meredith said.

The success of the first phase continues to drive the CRC to pursue the expansion optimistically.

"I think Phase I's success answered the question 'can you start a company in Blacksburg and have it amount to anything?'" Meredith said.

"I worked somewhere else for 22 years. I wish there had been something like the CRC that had attracted me back to this area. For those people who want to live and grow in Blacksburg, this is a great place to do that."