Gov. Jeb Bush lauds Florida's latest high profile recruit as California company Burnham Institute chooses Orlando for its new home.
By KRIS HUNDLEY, Times Staff Writer
Published August 24, 2006
Enticed by $310-million in state and local funds, Burnham Institute for Medical Research of La Jolla, Calif. said Wednesday that it will open a campus in Florida.
And, ending months of increasingly heated competition between two Florida cities, the nonprofit research group chose Orlando over Port St. Lucie for its new home.
Gov. Jeb Bush announced the state's latest biotech recruit in successive news conferences Wednesday, first in Tallahassee, then jetting down with Dr. John Reed, Burnham's president and chief executive, for a celebration with city and county officials in Orlando.
Bush ignited biomedical researchers' interest in Florida nearly three years ago when he persuaded Burnham's neighbor in La Jolla, Scripps Research Institute, to come to the state. Scripps chose Palm Beach County, which beat out a bid from Orlando. The incentive package for Scripps, which promised to create 545 jobs in Florida, was about $569-million in state and local funds.
On Wednesday, Bush boasted that the state is now in the top 10 in the nation in the life science sector and that other institutions are interested in following Scripps' and Burnham's lead.
"My expectation is that this will continue to grow and it will be a chance not just for Orlando or Palm Beach to benefit," Bush said. "To me, this is a statewide effort."
Last week, a legislative committee approved $20-million to bring a group believed to be SRI International of Menlo Park, Calif. to Florida. SRI, a nonprofit research organization, has been working with the University of South Florida-St. Petersburg on a partnership with its Center for Ocean Technology. SRI declined to comment Wednesday on its timetable for a decision, but legislators were told it would be made within 30 to 60 days.
Another research institute that has its eye on Florida is Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies, a La Jolla group that is reportedly considering sites in Boca Raton and Port St. Lucie. It is expected to make a decision after the state approves its incentive package in mid September.
Burnham is receiving $155.3-million from the state's $200-million Innovation Incentive Fund, approved by legislators in the spring. That amount is being matched by contributions from the city of Orlando, Orange County, the University of Central Florida, local philanthropists and the Tavistock Group, which owns the Lake Nona section of Orlando where the new campus will be located.
Reed, Burnham's chief executive, said he hopes to open an interim space on UCF's campus soon so Burnham can begin recruiting scientists. Construction of a permanent, 175,000-square-foot lab is expected to take 21 to 24 months.
Reed said Burnham, which has a staff of 750 and budget of $87-million, will expand its existing research into cancer and infectious diseases at the Florida campus. It will also develop a new focus on diabetes and obesity research, collaborating closely with the University of Florida, which will build a 50,000-square-foot facility adjacent to Burnham in Orlando.
Burnham's plan to employ 300 people within 10 years at its Florida campus drew criticism from incoming House Democratic leader Dan Gelber of Miami Beach. Comparing the number of new jobs to the $155-million state investment, Gelber said, "It is laudable to attract high-skill, high-wage jobs to Florida, although we really must find better ways to do it than paying corporations a half-million tax dollars per job."
Noting that Florida has the worst high school graduation rate in the nation, Gelber said, "I agree with Bill Gates that the way to attract industry is to have a workforce that is educated. Don't give them money to come here."
But Bush, excited at landing another renowned research group, defended the high state incentives, as unorthodox as they may be.
"These are research institutes and they're going to collaborate with our universities and they will create synergies that go way beyond looking at the traditional formula of 'jobs created divided by the amount invested,' " he said. "It doesn't fit that profile at all. On the other hand, it will draw private-sector investment, the creative class, the dreamers and doers and the kinds of people needed to sustain our communities."
