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WKU Cuts Ribbon At Center For Research And Development
Bowling Green, Ky. - The old Bowling Green Mall is once again serving as a hub of business activity as Western
 Kentucky University's Center for Research and Development."We're proud of what Western and our many partners have done to make this facility a driver for economic development," WKU President Gary Ransdell said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday morning. "This is the classic example of what higher education is and what it should be about," he said. Commerce Secretary Jim Host commended Dr. Ransdell for working with business leaders and with local, state and federal governments "to convert this old shopping mall into the Center for Research and Development." Funding and support for the Center has been provided by the Cabinet for Economic Development, Kentucky Economic Development Financing Authority, Tennessee Valley Authority, U.S. Economic Development Administration, Small Business Administration, the City of Bowling Green and Bowling Green Municipal Utilities. Host said Gov. Ernie Fletcher is committed to advancing his economic development agenda for Kentucky. "Now more than ever, our state universities must be the catalyst for economic development in the Commonwealth," Host said. The Center will become a national model and will be a one-stop shopping center for state-of-the-art research and development activities, he said. The Center includes 269,000 square feet under roof with about 86,000 square feet of retail space owned by the WKU Foundation and almost 183,000 square feet in commercial, public, economic development and research space. The commercial space includes a small business accelerator with 11 tenants. Buddy Steen, director of the Central Region Innovation and Commercialization Center, said the facility's mission is to attract and develop science and technology companies and create high-tech job opportunities in the community and for WKU graduates. WKU research operations in the facility include the Applied Physics Institute, the Institute for Combustion Science and Environmental Technology and the Center for Advanced Solar Studies. EWA Government Systems Inc. was attracted to the Center because of Kentucky's business climate, the availability of highly skilled employees and the quality of life in Bowling Green, said Ed Tivol, vice president for intelligence and homeland security. "We're always looking for new opportunities and opportunity is what this facility is all about," Tivol said. Jim Hizer, president and CEO of the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce, said the Center is "a fitting monument to Bowling Green's past because Western Kentucky University's Center for Research and Development is about Bowling Green and southcentral Kentucky's future."
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