UA hopes high-tech 'incubator' will warm up local job marketOfficials courting local sponsors

Arizona Summer Wildcat Bruce Wright

The UA Science and Technology Park, located at Interstate 10 and Rita Road southeast of campus, could be the site of the program to assist new technology-based companies in developing products and services.

"We aim to set up a facility that is run as a non-profit, community-based organization to nurture small companies in their phase-one, early growth stage," said Bruce Wright, assistant to UA President Peter Likins for community affairs and economic development.

Wright said the university is "in the early process of soliciting five to eight sponsors willing to invest $50,000 each per year over the next three to five years to build a program with low-cost, high-quality space to attract high-tech start-up firms."

Tucson Electric Power Co. agreed to a one-year commitment for funding and "the sense is they're willing to commit long-term," Wright said. "I can't comment on other prospects since we're in the midst of negotiations."

The Arizona Board of Regents was not targeted as a possible funding source, said board president Judy Gignac.

"I have not seen any such request in the capital improvement plan, nor have I see any request for operation and maintenance funding," Gignac said. "This is the kind of operation that is community-based and should not take from the academic part of the university."

Wright wrote a letter to Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry last month stating that the UA had developed a new plan for the tech park - which housed the Arizona International Campus before it changed its name and relocated to UA's main campus.

"TEP and several other Tucson companies have expressed a willingness to support the incubator. We hope the county would consider financial assistance," the letter stated. Neither Huckelberry nor Pima County Supervisor Ray Carroll, whose district contains the tech park, were available for comment.

The UA purchased the park from IBM Corp. in 1994 with bonds the board of regents sold through the Arizona Research Park Authority.

IBM then leased back space for $9.3 million in annual rent for 20 years. IBM's lease payments are the primary source of repayment for the bonds.

In 1995, the UA lured Microsoft Corp. to the site with the help of state, county and local funds. The Redmond, Wash.-based software maker sought to build a technical assistance phone center at the park, but later backed out because of a shift in the business environment.

"Microsoft's decision to scratch the phone support center was based on higher-than-anticipated customer use of its Internet-based support center and was not a reflection of the tech park," Wright said.

Microsoft - locked into a 10-year lease - sublet most of its space to Keane Inc., a technical support firm developing solutions for companies faced with potential Y2K computer glitches. Keane employs 500 to 600 people locally.

The tech park sits on a 1,340-acre plot, 340 acres of which are designated as a research park. The site is presently 90 percent leased, with about 4,400 employees. The majority work for defense contractor Raytheon, IBM and Keane.

Wright stressed the rivalry of similar high-tech incubators that exist in other U.S. cities near strong research universities, such as University of Texas in Austin and the University of California at Irvine.

"This is a competitive process," Wright said. "The intent of my letter to the county last month was to encourage their participation and was not tantamount to a request for funding."