For the Jordan Valley Innovation Center, big success can be measured in very tiny increments.
Nanotechnology, the long-winded name behind the study of matter on a molecular scale, quickly became the Missouri State University-sanctioned center’s bread and butter.
The university broke ground Nov. 29, 2005, at the site of a former Missouri Farmers Association milling facility at 524 N. Boonville Ave.
Three companies - Brewer Science of Rolla, Crosslink Polymer Research of St. Louis and Nantero of Massachusetts - signed on for space in the facility before the groundbreaking.
In December 2006, the center was renamed the Roy D. Blunt Jordan Valley Innovation Center in honor of the U.S. representative who helped to secure federal funding for the project.
The $12 million renovation was completed nearly two years later, opening its doors to the public May 30, 2007.
In a column published in July 2008 in Springfield Business Journal, Michael T. Nietzel, MSU president, defined the next step for JVIC – the IDEA Commons, or a neighborhood devoted to areas of MSU with potential for commercialization and cross leveraging, including academic programs, research projects and university-private company partnerships in the substantive areas of Innovation-Design-Entrepreneurship-Arts.
The IDEA Commons will be developed using properties near JVIC.
Nietzel said in the column that the IDEA Commons will focus on multitenant development, shared facilities and equipment, the incubation of its niche technologies, the presence of amenities to attract and retain working professionals at the Commons, and a commitment to public-private partnerships.
See the full list of pivotal points chosen by the Springfield Business Journal here.[[In-content Ad]]
