Found at: http://www.competitiveness.org/article/articleprint/220/-1/8/
The governor of Florida, Jeb Bush announced the plan for an expansion of the Scripps Research Institute to Palm Beach County during the BIO 2004 convention in San Francisco. Bush's big goal is to persuade biotech firms to take advantage of proximity to Scripps by locating on or near its planned campus.
'It's really the talk of the industry. Many of us were absolutely shocked that Bush was able to pull this off with extreme secrecy, complete cooperation from the Legislature and an unprecedented allocation of capital,' said Patrick Kelly of Biotechnology Industry Organization. Carl Feldbaum, the association president added: 'The Scripps decision was and is huge considering all the competition for economic development that biotech has come to represent.'
Bush persuaded the Legislature to allocate $310 million for Scripps, and Palm Beach County pledged to buy land and make other improvements that could run between $200 million and $300 million.
Because biotech tends to cluster in certain areas, competition to lure firms is fierce. The industry employs about 200,000 people nationwide with the largest number of firms -- 450 -- based in California. Massachusetts ranks second with about 200. Some 170 companies belong to the BioFlorida group, but some are venture capitalists, lawyers and from other industries associated with biotechnology.
More information:
Sun Sentinel: Gov. Bush plans to recruit more biotech companies
Palm Beach Post: Taxpayers may pay an extra $200 million on Scripps site