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Haworth: Thumbs up for Pfizer site handoff
5/17/2007
Business Review:
There's no guarantee of success, Dick Haworth knows.
Yet failure is assured if you don't try. So Haworth is fully behind the vision of transforming a Pfizer Inc. facility in Holland into a bio research and development center that could lead to new materials from plant-based sources such as corn and soybeans.
"If we don't get in there and we don't make some dust, we don't know what we're going to get in the end," said Haworth, chairman of office furniture maker Haworth Inc.
"It's the right move for our community, for our state and it has some benefits on a national level," he said.
Haworth and others hope Pfizer's donation of its vacant $50 million R&D center in Holland to Michigan State University will give the state a major boost in carving out a role in the future bio-economy.
As several other states put plans in motion to develop similar facilities, Michigan could have a center dedicated to bio research and commercialization operating by early next year and at a fraction of the cost.
"We have a building ready to be occupied and they don't even have a shovel in the ground," said Randy Thelen, president of the economic development group Lakeshore Advantage that brokered the deal between Pfizer and MSU. "We can be first to market with this type of research center."
Though MSU and Pfizer still need to finalize the deal, parties involved envision the center on the north shore of Lake Macatawa becoming a hub of bio research and development of materials using agricultural and plant materials, rather than petroleum or chemicals.
The emergence of bio-based products potentially has implications for the western Michigan-based office furniture industry that is aggressively pushing into the eco-friendly world of sustainable design and business practices.
The industry initially could replace materials such as polyvinyl chloride -- PVC -- used in trims for work surfaces and coating electrical wires with items made from sustainable, renewable sources, Haworth said.
Haworth sees his company bringing R&D projects to the MSU center.
"We need different materials and better materials," Haworth said. "I see this facility as a facility that can help us understand and get at some answers to questions."
The deal is contingent on MSU trustees' accepting the donation and the university's raising the capital needed to operate the facility.
Thelen sees a public/private partnership forming to arrange financing and already area lawmaker are pushing for a financing package that would have to come amid the state's ongoing budget crisis.
Haworth says making those tough fiscal decisions now to invest in ventures such as a bio research center is key to diversifying and rebuilding Michigan's ailing economy
"You have to give up some of the old things and make sure you place your bets on the future," Haworth said.
Thelen and others envision the center becoming a draw for researchers and entrepreneurs. He likens the potential to what the Van Andel Institute is doing in Grand Rapids to spur the life-sciences industry.
"What's great about this opportunity is it's one where we can lead, not just become a player," Thelen said. "It has that potential. When you combine world-class research with world-class facilities, you can hopefully get great results."
The facility includes a pilot plant for low-volume production for commercial prototyping and validation and will include a business accelerator for new companies.
When fully operational, the MSU facility could employ 100 people, mostly from scientific and technical backgrounds.
Pfizer used the three-story, 138,000-square-foot building for drug development. The facility, closed in December 2003, includes laboratories for up to 100 researchers, a 125-seat auditorium, a library, offices and the pilot plant.
The facility sits adjacent to a closed manufacturing complex that Pfizer is seeking to sell, possibly to a company that produces biofuels, Pfizer said.
Pfizer had a handful of parties interested in acquiring the facility for research, spokesman Rick Chambers said. MSU came up with the most compelling proposal.
"We concluded MSU was a great fit for the goal of the community. They had the strongest case," Chambers said.
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