T. Scott Boatright, Reporter
11-03-2009
Sometimes a cliché is so dead on, it’s the only way to go.
That’s the way it was for Louisiana Tech University last week as it broke ground on its new Enterprise Campus, a public-private technology research park that school officials and area legislators hope will spur economic development for the state and region.
As Tech president Dan Reneau and other dignitaries spoke before the actual groundbreaking ceremony, the phrase “red-letter day” was used multiple times by more than one speaker.
A red-letter day (sometimes called scarlet day in academia) is any day of special significance. The term originates from Medieval church calendars. Illuminated manuscripts often marked initial capitals and highlighted words in red ink, known as rubrics.
It wouldn’t surprise me if Reneau has his calendar for October 2009 — complete with the Enterprise Campus groundbreaking designated with red ink — framed for posterity, because that day will be remembered for decades to come.
That’s because the potential impact the Enterprise Campus could bring to our region is remarkable.
Tech estimates that within the first 10 years of construction, the Enterprise Campus will generate 1,100 direct and indirect jobs and $185 million per year in economic output.
The park was originally planned to be 200,000-square-feet built over 10 years on 30 acres north and south of West Arizona Avenue. But Tech is already thinking bigger. University officials said during the groundbreaking that they now envision expanding the park to one million square feet on 50 acres over a 25-year period.
Enterprise Campus will serve as a home for high-tech companies looking to commercialize the intellectual and research strengths of Tech faculty and students. It will also house government entities that wish to partner with the university in research, education and training, and other business development activities.
Ruston Mayor Dan Hollingsworth knows what Enterprise Campus will mean to the area.
Hollingsworth said that with this new research campus, Tech’s growth and prosperity continues to be a major economic development factor for this area.
“The potential for economic growth is limited only by our imagination,” Hollingsworth said.
He said the challenge for the city is to build a community and region that complements the work of the university. To become a real partner with Tech, he said the city must improve public education, workforce development and the infrastructure.
“This project offers new and expanded opportunities to work with Louisiana Tech as new patents, services, ideas and inventions come to life with the prospect of new jobs, new industry and services,” Hollingsworth said. “This is an exciting time to live in Ruston, to see tremendous vision unfolding.”
Research parks like Enterprise Campus are a growing trend for colleges and their surrounding communities to pull together and work in collaboration for a better future.
There are more than 170 research parks in North America, most of them associated with universities and modeled after Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, according to the Association of University Research Parks. The association said that for every job at a research park, an average of 750 per park, 2.5 jobs are generated in the broader economy.
Because of Enterprise Campus, the future is now for Louisiana Tech and the Ruston region. That’s another cliché, I realize, but still the only way to put it — it was that kind of red-letter day.
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