CAMT and UP Officials Visit NASA Research Park

August 4, 2011 -- The Colorado Association for Manufacturing and Technology (CAMT) and development partner United Properties visited the NASA Research Park (NRP) in Silicon Valley, CA this week to gain additional insight for the development of the ACE (Aerospace and Clean Energy) Manufacturing and Innovation Park and to identify opportunities for potential collaboration. 

“This visit achieves a key milestone in the NASA-CAMT partnership by applying best practices from the proven successes of our NASA Research Park in Silicon Valley toward the goal of accelerating the creation of new jobs in Colorado leveraging aerospace and clean energy technology,” said Doug Comstock, Director of NASA’s Innovative Partnerships Office. 

“Our visit with NASA this week has already led to the identification of potential new partners working on revolutionary and disruptive technologies, and prospective tenants for the Colorado Aerospace and Clean Energy (ACE) Park planned for Loveland, Colorado,” said Elaine Thorndike, CEO of CAMT.

“We were very pleased to host the Colorado leaders to a briefing on the NASA Research Park and introduce them to a variety of the clean tech companies and university partners here to assist the planning and development of the ACE Park in Loveland,” said Michael Marlaire, Director of the NRP at NASA Ames Research Center.

“The purpose of our trip was to understand the challenges we will face in creating the ACE Park, from the development and management of the Park to the creation of synergy among the tenants and incorporating best practices” said Kevin Kelley, Vice President, United Properties.

The planned ACE Park, comprised of 167 acres and 881,000 sq. ft. of existing office/industrial space, is located at the former Agilent Technologies campus in Loveland, Colorado.  The Park is a public/private partnership led by the Colorado Association for Manufacturing and Technology (CAMT) and developer United Properties, in conjunction with the City of Loveland. The team is conducting early marketing and due diligence activities. For more information on the project partners, visit www.camt.com and www.uproperties.com

The Park is part of a state-wide economic development initiative led by CAMT in collaboration with government, university and industry partners to promote an innovation economy, global competitiveness and job growth. The planned Park will be a multi-tenant campus with shared support services that can house more than 70 companies focused on scaling up manufacturing of aerospace and clean energy technology products.  

The NASA Research Park, an integrated, dynamic research and education community located in the heart of Silicon Valley, cultivates diverse partnerships with academia, industry and non-profit organization in support of NASA’s mission.  CAMT and United Properties officials had a series of meetings over two days with NASA Research Park officials on the structure and best practices of the Park, as well as meetings with companies located at or working with the Park.

Although the focus of the ACE Park is later stage technologies ready for manufacturing, there are many lessons to be learned from the success at the NRP in developing and managing a multi-tenant campus, creating synergies, and promoting a culture of innovation that draws successful companies to the area.