ORNL plans new technology park

A new technology park at Oak Ridge National Laboratory was dedicated this week, which proponents predict will bring new companies and jobs to East Tennessee. The “Oak Ridge Science and Technology Park,” in the Knoxville-Oak Ridge Innovation Valley on land provided by the Department of Energy, is the nation’s first technology park on the campus of a national laboratory. The technology park will be available for private sector companies that are collaborating with scientists at ORNL. Laboratory officials also anticipate the new park will lead to the creation of new companies from technologies developed at ORNL. Gerald Boyd, manager of the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office, said, “Oak Ridge National Laboratory each year develops some of the world’s most important new technologies. One of our priorities is to help make those technologies available for new companies and new jobs.” During the last five years, ORNL constructed nearly $2 billion in new facilities, including the Spallation Neutron Source and the Center for Computational Sciences. The Oak Ridge technology park will be the first in Tennessee with an Association of University Research Parks designation. Located in the heart of the Knoxville-Oak Ridge Innovation Valley, the technology park offers access to unsurpassed research and development capabilities, a skilled talent pool, a modern telecommunications infrastructure, a central location and low business costs. The ceremony included an announcement of the technology park’s first tenant. Pro2Serve Professional Project Services Inc., an engineering services firm, announced plans to construct a 100,000-square-foot facility to serve as the company’s National Security Engineering Center and corporate headquarters. Pro2Serve plans to add approximately 200 new employees to its staff during the next several years. Construction on the facility begins this summer.