As work begins to ramp up on the Water Campus, local and state economic leaders are compiling a list of assets available in the area as a tool to recruit businesses to the riverfront research park.
“The more we know about what we’re good at and the types of talent and industries we have and how it’s focused, that’s a big indicator of the types of companies that could come here and get access to those things,” says Byron Clayton, president and CEO of Research Park Corp.
Clayton is working with the Baton Rouge Area Chamber and state officials in the endeavor. They are very early in the mapping process, Clayton says.
On the business side, Clayton says, knowing what a research park like the Water Campus brings to the table is important, because innovative companies like to be near institutions where basic and applied research in their particular field is ongoing.
The types of businesses they could be looking to recruit include the obvious choices such as coastal protection and restoration, urban water management, and law and policy. Then there are the not-so-obvious sectors, including data analytics, and apparel and electronics manufacturers.
Clayton undertook a similar task while in Cleveland years ago as the Cleveland Water Alliance, on the shores of Lake Erie, was in the development stage. He understands how a map of assets is essential to help bring the right businesses to a research park. Clayton says officials plan to unveil the first phase of mapping at a dataflow conference that will be held at LSU in May.
“As we start to identify those different sectors, we’ll start reaching out to businesses to see how we can work together,” Clayton says.
The Water Campus, when completed, will be a 35-acre research park on the banks of the Mississippi River, just south of downtown Baton Rouge, where researchers from LSU, other institutions and private companies will study coastal erosion and sustainability. Work already has begun on at least three buildings, including the Water Institute of the Gulf headquarters on the old city dock.
—Ryan Broussard
