Brett Luster
The Southern Illinois Research Park will tie technology to the University and provide jobs for future students, according to a Research Park committee member John Koropchak.
"There's not a huge industrial or technological base in Southern Illinois," said Koropchak, also the newly named vice chancellor for research.
The park, which recently installed an entrance sign crowned by a glass pyramid, should take several years to complete, Koropchak said. He said construction on the $40 million park will probably begin next year.
The research park will be a place for companies to research their technology and will be a source of employment for students in their fields, according to Koropchak.
"They are companies our students may want to get jobs at," he said.
In addition to the experience students receive, Koropchak said companies have potential here as well.
"A goal of these parks is to make sure the research ideas on campus have community potential," Koropchak said. "If they can develop into new companies they can stay here."
According to State Rep. Mike Bost, students and the community should benefit from the park.
"Companies that are in our community that will invest in the future of SIU and Carbondale, they are going to actually benefit. They are training the people to come into their profession," Bost said.
Koropchak believes main attractions for outside businesses are the low cost of living and the good school system Carbondale offers. Technology firms may spread into Southern Illinois from as far away as California because of the lower cost of living, according to Koropchak.
Bost said businesses will benefit on multiple levels by sending firms to the Research Park.
"You've got to work together," Bost said. "It will benefit Southern Illinois as well as their own business."
Koropchak believes business can be stimulated in Southern Illinois and create quality, high-paying jobs.
He used the example of the Dunn-Richmond Economic Development Center, an SIUC business incubator that sits adjacent to the park site that helped produce DXR software. The software was developed in part by Ben Weinberger, who along with his partner won the Illinois Young Entrepreneur Award.
With the park in place, Koropchak believes it will be a link for improvement in Carbondale's future economy.
"It could maybe build a technology wave toward St. Louis," Koropchak said. "[They] can take advantage of each other so that each grows with each other."
Reporter Brett Luster can be reached at bluster@dailyegyptian.com
Published on 11/17/05; 12:24:44 PM
