PROFILE:
PALM BEACH COUNTY
, PBC is e c la p in g in th With every breakout e th e m o c e b to ready novation. in e c n ie c s fe li r region fo
O T D E S POI
E C U D PRO W
hen Forbes.com ranked the region No. Florida’s economy from one that was dependent 3 on its list of “Hotbeds of Tomorrow’s on tourism, real estate, agriculture and construcTechnology,” it became clear that Palm tion into one that attracted more technology Beach County is establishing itself as a and innovation businesses,” says Kelly global leader in scientific and technoSmallridge, president and CEO of the BRAGGING RIGHTS: logical breakthroughs. Business Development Board of Palm November 5, 2010, FAU Beach County. “So when the state put With more than 150 life science, opened its new headpharmaceutical and biotech companies, quarters of the College up big dollars to lure big biotech busithe infrastructure for advancement is nesses—and our county matched it—it of Engineering and Computer Science— already in place. The county is home caused a flow of life science companies one of the state’s to multiple research parks, incubators to come here.” most environmenand top-notch schools and research Palm Beach County’s biggest biotech tally efficient buildings universities (including Florida Atlantic success was coaxing two biomedical and one of the first University). But recently, the intensive giants to establish facilities on FAU’s academic buildings incentive packages offered on state, Jupiter campus. The first was Scripps in Florida to meet the highest Platinum LEED Florida, the world’s first nonprofit county and municipal levels have standard. helped biotech companies come to PBC drug-discovery facility in an academic to compete globally. setting and a division of the Scripps “Five years ago, a bold move was made by Research Institute, the nation’s largest indepenJeb Bush [governor at the time] to transform dent nonprofit biomedical research organization. Specializing in the development of diagnostic and therapeutic discoveries in major disease areas, Scripps Florida’s start-up costs were supported by $310 million from the state, along with an additional $188 million from Palm Beach County. “Today, once something is discovered in the laboratory, the world isn’t waiting anymore—so there isn’t much time after discovering something that it becomes pervasive,” says Harry W. Orf, PhD, vice president for scientific operations and professor of chemistry at Scripps Florida. “In — CLAUDIA HILLINGER, PHD, VICE PRESIDENT FOR INSTITUTE DEVELOPMENT, MAX PLANCK FLORIDA order to compete, you need the technologies that INSTITUTE let you get new discoveries to market more efficiently, and that’s what we have here in PBC.”
“The Max Planck Society is a global pioneer in research in virtually every area of science.”
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G PHOTOS: (TOP) FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY; (SCRIPPS) TOM ARBAN PHOTOGRAPHY.
By Myatt Murphy