Research Parks Help Attract Expanding Companies

Favorable leases, partnerships with universities help companies develop their technologies into products.

Huntsville, Ala., is home to Redstone Arsenal, a sprawling U.S. Army base that includes the Aviation and Missile Command, the Space and Missile Defense Command, and major components of the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Missile Defense Agency. The Marshal Space Flight Center is also located on Redstone Arsenal.

Numerous private sector companies count the various agencies inside Redstone as their customers. But because Redstone is a military post, these companies cannot locate on site.

However, they still want to be close to these customers so, for these companies, the next best thing to being there is the Cummings Research Park, located just minutes from Redstone.

The 43-year-old research park is situated on more than 3,400 acres of land and has 9 million square feet of space for research and development, administration, warehouse, sales and manufacturing.

Research parks play a critical role in the effort by communities to attract expanding and relocating companies, and the incubator portion included in many research parks is a critical component of startup companies’ efforts to get their businesses get off the ground.

By: Ken Krizner, Managing Editor

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