Turn onto U.S. 441 from Alachua’s quaint Main Street and head towards Gainesville. In no time you’ll see a beautiful, campus-like business park on your right called Progress Corporate Park. The 204 acre park sits at the north entrance of San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park with its extensive trails for hiking, horseback riding and bicycling.

Don’t let the peaceful setting fool you. Nestled among the trees are a flourishing cluster of bioscience and other companies employing nearly 1000 people. More than $30 million of new construction since 2000 and plans for two retail centers on 441 have brought a tangible sense of excitement to the 27 companies in the park. “I have never seen such a sense of community in a business park” says Jim Shaw, a park owner and developer.

“I think it’s fantastic” says Ted Stover of High Springs who works for bioscience startup Oxthera. “I was talking to an investor recently and he says that south of Research Triangle Park in NC, Alachua/Gainesville is the place people are talking about”. Teresa Heal, Controller at Applied Genetics Technology Corp. says “I feel the park is critical to Gainesville and Alachua’s growth of the bioscience industry and it’s structured in a way that creates enthusiasm within the park”.

There are land and buildings for sale, rental space, and build-to-suit opportunities. The park’s approved DRI zoning allows for rapid build-out of retail, light industrial, general office, distribution, medical, research & development, hotel/motel. Cheryl Alldredge of Tucker- Davis says their employees love eating outside under the trees, riding trails after work, and going into Alachua to new restaurants and shops. “Alachua has really been growing and we feel like part of the community. The businesses have been great, coming to the park and bringing us coupons and inviting us to participate in community events.”

The University of Florida is playing a dramatic role in the park’s growth. Eighty percent of the people who work in the park are employed by 15 companies that got their start developing new products based on the discoveries of University of Florida researchers. Most are small with fewer than 30 employees. With one exception: RTI Biologics.

RTI Biologics (NASDAQ: RTIX), UF’s most successful spinout to date, has 550 employees working in the park (and another 200 elsewhere). RTI merged recently with another park company, Tutogen, to become the leading provider of sterile biological implants for surgeries around the world. Their implants are used in dental, head and neck, ophthalmology, spine, sports medicine, urology and other specialty surgeries. “All this growth in the Park is opening up lots of opportunities for kids growing up around here” said Alachua resident Marsha Foreman who moved from St. Petersburg in 1999 for a job at RTI. “Especially with Santa Fe High now being Alachua County’s ‘biotech high school’.

The park has two unusual UF programs that benefit companies: The Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator (SMBI) program and the Center of Excellence for Regenerative Health Biotechnology (CERHB). CERHB operates both a workforce education program and an FDA compliant biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility called Florida Biologix which contracts with companies to make material for clinical trials.

The nationally recognized Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator (SMBI) program fosters the growth of young bioscience companies with a 40,000 SF lab/office facility, services and equipment. “Since opening in 1995 we’ve admitted 39 companies and 15 of them are still in the park with an annual payroll of $16 million” said Patti Breedlove, Associate Director. The Incubator program is part of UF’s nationally recognized efforts to turn the research of its faculty and graduate students into products that can benefit everyone. A surprising 16% of all bioscience companies in Florida came through this program.

CERHB handles biopharmaceutical manufacturing and workforce education. “Once a company receives FDA approval to conduct human clinical trials, they must have their new product manufactured under sterile, controlled conditions such as those at Florida Biologix” say Dr. Richard Snyder, Director. We have customers from around the U.S. and the world”. A separate modern Education and Training Center at CERHB trains entry-level and incumbent employees in industrial biotechnology-based processes.

“Our world has changed” says Rick Staab of InterMed Technology Management, who moved his company’s corporate headquarters to the park in 2002. There’s a big new era of biotech with all kinds of things being developed to help people. And it’s going on right in this park.”

Santa Fe College (formerly SFCC) broke ground recently on the Charles R. and Nancy V. Perry Alachua Corporate Training Center across U.S. 441 from the park and is scheduled to open for students in fall of 2009. Many park companies already hire graduates of the College’s two year Biotechnician Training Program at its main campus.

Each day Juan Martinez rides a bicycle from his apartment at 151 Place to Banyan Biomarkers, a startup company in the park developing diagnostics and treatments for brain trauma. “It’s a short drive, but I save about $50 a month by not driving. And since my apartment (behind Hitchcocks) is on a hill, I don’t have to hit the pedals ‘till I’m past the post office!” Zhiqun Zhang who also lives at 151 Place and works at Banyan moved to Alachua from Gainesville in February. “I love the small town convenience of Alachua. I can walk to all kinds of things. And on workdays I can drop my son off at O2BKids on the way to the Park.”

A Vital Part of Alachua

As the park has grown companies and their employees have become involved in the daily life of Alachua. This year several park companies banded together to launch the first park-wide Annual All-star Charity Softball event. Carol Barnard, Clinical & Public Relations Coordinate at NovaMin Technology notes “The City of Alachua and business owners were fantastic in their willingness to donate to this event. Mayor Jean Calderwood came out for the opening ceremony and threw out the first pitch. We raised $7,000 for several charities including local ones like the Acorn Clinic and Ryan’s Hope”.

New groups also spring up within companies to meet the needs of their employees. Hemant Patel, Turkey Creek resident and RTI Process Engineer organized a new golf league for his company. “It’s good to take time outside of work to develop friendships with people you work with” he says.

Progress Corporate Park began as the vision of one man - Dr. Robert Marston, president of the University of Florida during the early 1980’s. Two hundred acres were provided by the University of Florida Foundation. Over the years, the land was developed and owned by different groups and is now a privately owned park with a co-development agreement with UF located five minutes from I-75, 2 hours from Orlando and Tampa and 1½ hrs from Jacksonville. Companies are able to get started quickly. Sites range from 1-35 acres. There are land and buildings for sale, rental space, and build-to-suit opportunities. Architectural control guidelines ensure quality development, landscaping and signage. More information can be found at www.progresscorporatepark.com and www.progressbuildings.com.

Whether it’s new disease treatments and diagnostics, clean technology, or a better toothpaste, it’s being researched here. People are working together to make a healthier tomorrow for us and our environment.