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The Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center on Wednesday broke ground on a long-awaited expansion that will add laboratories, office space and at least 100 new jobs to its campus in Buckingham.

"This has become a real state resource," said biotechnology center President Timothy Block. "We can't exist in these two buildings anymore. We need to grow."

Created more than 10 years ago through a partnership between the Hepatitis B Foundation and Delaware Valley University, the Biotechnology Center has grown to become an economic powerhouse in the region, contributing an estimated $1.8 billion to the local economy and supporting more than 700 jobs, half of those within the center itself.

Because of the center's success, it's been a draw for scientists and entrepreneurs throughout the region. Lab space is at a premium, and there's a waiting list for tenants. The new wing is already 40 percent leased, Block said.

The first tenant, contract research organization FlowMetric Inc., credits the center with its growth. The company now has three dozen employees.

"I could have set up my company in New Jersey. But there was no place that was quite like this, and that has continued for us," said CEO Ren Capocasale.

"This center is why I do what I do."

While construction likely won't begin until the summer, biotech center officials chose Wednesday for the ceremonial groundbreaking in part because it also happened to be the 96th birthday of Joshua Feldstein, a longtime supporter for whom a wing of the center is named.

Feldstein was on hand for Wednesday's event, seated among a variety of state and local dignitaries that included state Rep. Marguerite Quinn, R-143, Doylestown, and state Sen. Chuck McIlhinney, R-10, Doylestown both longtime supporters of the center and Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, R-8, Middletown.

"This is not a Republican or Democrat thing," said Quinn. "We've had support from both sides of the aisle, recognizing what you do here: jobs, cures and research. Well-paying jobs and phenomenal research."

First proposed in 2015, the expansion project stalled during a dispute between the Hepatitis B Foundation and Delaware Valley University. Unhappy with how the foundation was running the center's day-to-day operations, the university refused to sign off on the expansion plans.

The dispute ended in October, when the Hepatitis B Foundation agreed to pay $2 million to buy DelVal's interests in the center.

The final project will cost between $12 million and $13 million, center officials said. That will be offset by a $4.6 million grant from the federal government and a $2 million state grant. The rest will be financed with a conventional loan awarded by Univest Bank.

Officials on Wednesday, however, weren't just celebrating the expansion. They were thinking about the future.

"We need to be thinking about what the next thing we're going to put the shovel in the ground (for) here with what's happening here," said Bucks County Commissioner Rob Loughery.

Block envisions a biotechnology hub within Bucks County one that equals the well-known Kendall Square area of Boston.

"There is a resource in Bucks County as vital and powerful, with as much potential, as the shale under the earth here," Block said. "That's what we're going to tap into."

The rest is here:
Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center begins long-awaited expansion ... - Bucks County Courier Times

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