Gov dedicates USU building
The new USTAR Bioinnovations 650 Building was unveiled Oct. 7, complete with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Utah Gov. Gary Herbert was among the notables that attended the event, and provided opening remarks. The facility should begin to be occupied in December.
Part of the reason for the building’s name comes from its location, at 650 E. Grand Ave. in North Logan. Additionally, the facility will triple the size of UTSTAR’s current main research facility, located just down the street at 620 E. Grand Ave.
“The research being conducted in this building will change our lives,” said Raymond Coward, executive vice president and provost of USU.
The purpose of the 110,000 square-foot facility is to provide research among all USU sciences and industry researchers, and other institutions at the university. Additionally, the occupations in the facility and the research itself will continue to create 100 new jobs, besides recruiting top-level scientists in their field to the state, Coward said.
Gov. Herbert said the new facility not only improves the status of Utah State University, but also contributes to helping achieve three main goals currently being pursued on behalf of the state of Utah.
That first goal, Herbert said, is economic growth.
“With 2.3 trillion dollars on the side right now, there’s a lot of opportunities to research,” he said. Herbert said the new facility encourages such spending, and for a good cause of development of technology that will improve the everyday lives of people.
The second goal of education is achieved, as Herbert said, “because students will have greater opportunity to work side-by-side with researchers,” many of whom will be on-campus professors, already teaching within the majority of both the undergraduates and graduate students, who will have the opportunity to work at Bioinnovations 650.
The third goal is accomplished because much of the research is devoted to developing natural resources.
Herbert described one of the already-in-place projects as a miracle, saying that conversion of algae to energy is just as remarkable as conversion of water to wine, and is part of a greater miracle that is impacting the outlook of the entire state, not to mention the increasing prestige that is building around the school.
“There’s a lot of great things in the state right now that relate to and surround Utah State University,” Herbert said.
All of the speakers concerning the event were extremely optimistic about its potential to generate employment and provide new innovational technologies, mainly within science, that can be applied to the world outside the laboratory.
Scott Anderson, USTAR governing authority member and CEO of Zions Bank, was among these speakers. Anderson said the construction of Bioinnovations 650 will help to continue a major goal that was set when the university was established in 1888.
“This university was founded with the idea that it would take its discoveries from the campus to the people,” Anderson said, while describing that this purpose was particularly set forth since USU is largely a research school.
Fred Hunsaker of the Utah House of Representatives, who Anderson described as “one of USTAR’s heroes,” was among those optimistic about what all speakers and event notables recognized as something that can be revolutionary to the advancement of biological innovations and more.
“(Bioinnovations 650) is tremendous not just for the university, not just for Cache Valley, but it’s a tremendous thing for the entire state and the entire world. What will come out of here will have the potential to change lives for the better and make a tremendous difference in people’s lives. And that’s what it’s all about,” Hunsaker said.
Hunsaker, a former USU business and finance professor, added that due to the university’s heavy involvement in research programs, the facility is only tailoring to what the school does best, and what it offers its students with regards to on-site and on-campus employment opportunities related to their fields.
“USU does more than almost anybody in undergraduate research, so this will have a very positive effect on undergraduates,” he said. “The graduate students will have a first-hand experience of discovery, and that will give them a leg up when they go into the marketplace or continue the education. They are going to be way ahead because they’ve had this kind of experience and research.”
“The entire theory of the USTAR program is economic development and improvement of quality of life. And the economic development is really all about jobs. By utilizing the talent in the faculty, it opens up new jobs. It’s not just people finding jobs and shifting around; (the opportunities at Bioinnovation 650) creates jobs. And that creates jobs for everyone, including students.”
The audience at the dedication were told the facility will provide not only employment opportunities in the midst of the recession, but will also bring new light and invention to already-established truths in the science fields.
“This is a great day for the state of Utah and certainly USTAR, as well as Utah State University. Today, we are all Aggies,” Herbert said.
–rhett.wilkinson@aggiemail.usu.edu