JVIC funding passes first Congressional hurdle

The center is in line to receive the final $4.4 million necessary to build Phase I from the U.S. Department of Defense, after the U.S. House of Representatives June 20 passed the department’s appropriations act for fiscal year 2006. The federal appropriations – now $12.4 million for the downtown Springfield project – await final Senate approval and the president’s signature.

The Innovation Center, slated for the former MFA mill at 524 Boonville Ave., will house the Southwest Missouri State University Center for Applied Science and Engineering, as well as laboratories and other facilities for companies working in engineering and other sciences.

Southwest Missouri Congressman Roy Blunt said the facility will offer the region a chance to welcome new types of industries. As House Majority Whip, Blunt worked to secure the $12.4 million for JVIC.

“I think what we’re doing here is opening the door of our district to a totally new area of job development,” Blunt said during a June 21 conference call. “As diverse as our economy is, this is something that (Springfield) has never really been in. A couple of these companies, the jobs they’re talking about are in the $70,000 to $80,000 range. These are jobs that involve research and are pretty intensely technical in nature. They’re high-tech and defense-oriented.”

The new money for the center will not speed up the construction schedule, Blunt said, but rather will let the process begin as planners intended.

“I think it lets them know that when they are ready to go with their plans, they’ll have the money they need to move forward and make that space available for these companies to move in and begin their work,” he said.

The bill also includes more than $32 million for several companies doing work in southwest Missouri for the defense industry. Three of them – Nantero, Brewer Science and Crosslink – will have operations in the JVIC.

The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Appropriations June 21. If passed, Blunt said, the money should be available at the beginning of the new fiscal year on Oct. 1.

He credited public-private partnerships for creating these new employment opportunities.

“I think these jobs, frankly, could have gone anywhere; the decision to bring them here was due to a combination of the right kind of work force, community partnership and support,” Blunt said. “(SMSU President John) Keiser deserves a lot of credit for moving this concept forward. We’ve been able to put the money on the table that will make this happen.”

Officials for the center have said they hope it will be operational by mid-2006.

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