Monday, March 9th

AURP Board of Directors Meeting

Opening Remarks

Allison Madden, AURP President; Chief Operating Officer & Corporate Secretary, University of South Florida Research Park
Harold Strong, Spring Training Chair; Executive Director, STAR Park at Texas State University

MODULE 1
How is New Technology Supporting Innovation Ecosystems

Moderator: Jordan Peterson, Chief Operations Officer, Collaborative Real Estate

AURP Board of Director’s Dinner

Tuesday, March 10th

Part 1: New Models of Research Parks
Moderator: David Snow, Executive Director, Pegasus Park

Part 2: Identifying the Gap and the Risk
Moderator: TBD

Billions of dollars across the US have been invested in Public-Private Partnerships (P3s) to develop student housing at our universities. But how can this funding and delivery mechanism be deployed to finance and build research parks and innovation districts? And exactly what is a P3 as opposed to just contracting to build a facility?
As universities, cities and regions face challenges in finding ways to launch or expand innovation districts and research park facilities, learn how P3s are overcoming resource constraints. This module focuses on partner selection and advancements in procurement, design, financing, and operating and maintenance (O&M).

Brian Darmody, Chief Strategy Officer, AURP

Informal Group Dinners

Wednesday, March 11th

This module explores the changing models for financing and building research infrastructure as changes in facilities and administrative (F&A) rates, shifting federal funding priorities, and evolving industry engagement strategies are driving new approaches to financing and sustaining research spaces. This session will explore how universities and companies are working together to co-invest in facilities, leverage public-private partnerships, and navigate policy changes to support cutting-edge research as well as approaches to financing that will enable research and innovation growth across a wide range of institutions. The session is organized around four core topics: financing fundamentals, emerging strategies by institutions, evolving overhead recovery models, and state-level funding approaches that support research parks and innovation ecosystems. Participants will gain insights in fundamental financing principles using a combination of qualitative and quantitative frameworks, risk-sharing strategies, and best practices for aligning infrastructure development with long-term research and workforce needs and examine how various investments can support sustainable research and innovation within their communities.

Kevin Byrne, President and Chief Executive Officer, The University Financing Foundation

Shared centralized research resources, often referred to as core facilities, enable access to expertise and sophisticated instrumentation creating opportunities to drive discovery and train the workforce. Despite the value they create, core facilities come with their own challenges especially in an environment where F&A cuts are looming. We will take a deep dive into best practices for efficient operations, strategically growing a strong user base, engaging corporate partners, and supporting defense related users with security needs. With effective execution, core facilities not only drive innovation and training, but also support business attraction and growth of regional economies.

Speakers:
Karen Dobos, Scientific Director, Colorado State University Regional Biocontainment Laboratory (RBL)
Jeff Smith, Director, Research Parks, Michigan State University Research Foundation
Russ Zarras, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Fraunhofer USA, Inc.
Moderators: Matt Ballard, CEO/Executive Director, West Virginia Regional Technology Park Corporation

Informal Group Dinners