As the steel girders are put into place for the framework of the Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC) medical center, the Fairfax Economic Development Authority recently rented space in a nearby office building for the first biotech and bioinformatics incubator as the initial step in attracting high-tech industries and shaping the future of Springfield.
Authority president Jerry Gordon looked at the long-term plan.
"In the next five to seven years, people will be able to attend classes, start companies and conduct work in the bioinformatics industry," he said.
Partnering with the authority and NVCC are George Mason University, Virginia Commonwealth University and Inova Health Centers. The plan is to build an economic center similar to the dot-com companies that established a foothold in the Dulles Corridor; the hope is that bioinformatics will not be as soluble as the dot-coms.
"Bioinformatics is more about management of databases than it is lab work," Gordon said.
Similar situations exist in Richmond, Montgomery County, Maryland and the United Kingdom, according to Gordon. In 1999, the authority started an incubator in Baileys Crossroads that focused on start-up information-technology companies. The plan also changes the emphasis of businesses in Springfield away from retail and into technology.
"Bioinformatics and bioscience, they are very high-skilled and high-paying jobs," Gordon said.
The authority leased 7,288 square feet of office space at 7001 Loisdale Road, adjacent to the Springfield Center Road, which connects to the medical center. The five-year lease with the building owner, Blair Inc., will cost $17.50 a square foot per year. It will cost county taxpayers $1.5 million to run over three years, according to Linda Waller, administrative assistant in Supervisor Dana Kauffman's (D-Lee) office. Kauffman looks at the project as easing the burden on taxpayers.
"We hope it serves as a valuable catalyst toward bringing tax revenue into our area to ease the burden of area residents," he said.
Angle Technology Group, based in Herndon, is managing the offices. They have experience with this type of business development, according to director of operations Lisa Smith.
"We have done work for an emerging tech center at the University of Virginia and one in England," she said.
Brian Smith, Angle project manager for the Springfield project, said, "Our emphasis is the business side of this. These things always start in baby steps, the hope is some of these companies will stay in the area."
BY ATTRACTING BUSINESSES, Gordon hopes to generate enough taxes to make it profitable for the county.
"Businesses pay more taxes than they use in facilities," he said.
Gordon also looked at the location to combat the growing traffic problem. Commuters coming up from areas south of Springfield will not have to go through the interchange or get on the Beltway.
"I think we're ready for a new industry in the area. I can live in Springfield and work in Springfield," said Springfield Chamber of Commerce executive director Nancy-jo Manney.
Kauffman also looked at easing traffic.
"Bring quality jobs within the Springfield community so people can continue to live and work in their neighborhood as opposed to the fight up and down I-95," he said.
ORIGINALLY, BUSINESSES were supposed to be in the offices by now, but the space was not ready. An elevator for the two-story building is being put in.
"We were hoping to have it done by now," Gordon said.
The plan now is to have businesses in by late April or early May. This office space is part of Phase I, which will be six or eight businesses.
"They've talked with a good number of companies already," Gordon said.
Smith noted the corporate reaction so far. "The concept has been well-received by the companies so far. It enriches and diversifies the businesses down there [in Springfield]," he said.
In the future, Manney is looking at the Government Services Administration land as the spot for a possible research park.
"That's what we're looking for," she said.
IN LOISDALE ESTATES, a community where some of the back yards overlook the medical center construction site, Bob Brawand has been living in the same house since 1966.
"That was woods back there when I moved in," he said, but he hadn't heard about the incubator plans. He questioned accessibility.
"I don't know if we need all that, this is really a congested area," he said.
Brawand's next-door neighbor did hear about it but preferred not to give his name. He remembered a baseball stadium proposal for the same land.
"I heard about it at a meeting one time. I'd rather see whatever's going to come in than a baseball stadium," he said.
He also has been in the same house since the 1960s.
"Eventually we're going to be squeezed out," he said.