State vying for big biotech facility - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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The Peach State is among several vyinhg for what might be a vaccine or pharmaceuticalo manufacturing operation that couldd locate on more than 100 Atlanta Business Chroniclehas learned. Winninf the project could do for Georgia’d biotech industry what will do forthe state’s auto said Mike Cassidy, presidenyt of the , after being briefedx about the details. “It would be an outstanding recruitment [tool for new business],” Cassidty said.
The company, which could be considering thre cities, is said to be negotiatingf economic incentives withthe state, a source Georgia economic development officials declinee comment on the possible developmentr — dubbed “Project Boss.” The potentiapl development could add to the region’s biotech already enhanced by hosting the 2009 BIO International Convention, the world’d largest bio conference,in May.
It would also be an economicx development coup akinto ’s global headquarterd relocation from Dayton, Ohio, to The ATM and self-service kiosk maker said it would bring more than 2,100 jobs to including nearly 900 at a manufacturinv operation in Columbus, Atlanta Business Chronicle first reportesd June 1. Metro home to the , has the critical infrastructure to support a biomedical manufacturing The region is home to the EmoryhVaccine Center, billed as among the largest academicx vaccine centers in the world and knowm for its expertise in vaccine research and and clinical trials.
In and The launched the Center of Excellencr for Influenza Research and Surveillance to developflu vaccines. Carol Henderson, who directsx the Innovation and Technology Office at the Georgia Departmentf ofEconomic Development, is leadingb efforts to land the biotech company, a sourcew familiar with the effort said. Activity is said to have pickec up in the pasttwo Henderson’s recruitment builds upon the existing alliances and resourcee between the University Systemm of Georgia, the Centers of Innovation, the Georgia Research Alliance and the Georgia Biomedical Partnership and Biotechnology Industrhy Organization. The biotech firm has been shoppinv sites for at leasta year.
Project Boss was “planninvg to potentially deploy twomanufacturing facilities” that combines could employ about 1,500, accordiny to a request for information dated June 5, 2008. The facilities coulrd be located in thesame region, or in separate the document noted. The how­ever, is said to have downsized thoseinitial plans, sourcews said. The economy, and more specifically the pressur for companies tocut costs, is forcing companies in general to take longer to make big decisionas such as a major relocation, said Heidi Green, deput y commissioner of the Global Commerce Division at the Georgia Departmenf of Economic Development.
“It’s typically takingh 12 to 18 monthsto close,” Green declining to specifically comment on Projecf Boss. The biotech firm, said to have scouted Douglas andGwinnett counties, is seeking locationss with international air access, available life science and an ability to source and attract engineers and the request for information noted.