Move over North Carolina Research Triangle. Georgia is on the brink of becoming one of the biggest bioscience centers in the world. The state's relatively new Innovation Crescent – a 13-county swath of vibrant science community between Atlanta and Athens – represents the future of things to come.
The real story here is that collaboration can be a beautiful thing. The far-reaching effects of cooperation have been seen for the last 50 years through the efforts of North Carolina civic leaders, high-tech companies, research facilities and universities that came together with a vision in the 1950s to create The Research Triangle.
Leaders in Georgia began collaborating several years ago to market the science corridor that stretches from Atlanta to Athens. In 2008, the Innovation Crescent Regional Partnership (ICRP) formed to boost economic development for the life science industry, attract companies, create jobs and establish the region as a unique life science hub.
Containing more than 95 percent of Georgia's life science assets, Innovation Crescent was conceived by regional leaders from chambers of commerce and economic development organizations including Georgia Bio Organization, the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC), the Georgia Department of Economic Development, Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, Atlanta Development Authority, Athens-Clarke County, Barrow County, Clayton County, Cobb County, DeKalb County, north Fulton County, Gwinnett County, Jackson County, Madison County, Morgan County, Oconee County, Ogelthorpe County and Walton County.
"Any time you have public and private entities come together across county lines in a region like this, it provides a united front and automatically gives you an advantage," said Nick Masino, Gwinnett Chamber vice president of economic development. "Instead of competing against each other, we are working together. As Georgia's Innovation Crescent begins to build a reputation, we'll start seeing more and more life science companies join the cluster of those that are already in the area."
In May, the ICRP became official with 13 communities and organizations signing legal documents to become their own economic development entity. Masino, who helped found the ICRP, was named as the board chairman. The partnership is the marketing organization for the Crescent, which is made up of 30 research and/or educational institutions working to develop workforce to meet the demands of the rapidly growing biotech industry.
"Now that the organization has been formalized, the board of the ICRP can focus on marketing the region's unique assets to life science companies around the world," said Michael Starling, senior project manager for Dekalb Office of Economic Development's Life Science Initiative and prospect development, and the ICRP vice-chairman and co-founder.
Anchored by Georgia Tech, Emory University and the University of Georgia – and boasting the world recognized Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Arthritis Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture and American Cancer Society – the foundation of Georgia's Innovation Crescent appears to be very strong.
Add a wide range of leading tech and bioscience companies to the region's highly educated workforce, and it looks like Georgia's Innovation Crescent has been launched into the science stratosphere with some high-profile players. Game on, Research Triangle.
