Opened in January 2001, the University of Illinois Research Park is now home to some 35 companies and research centers employing more than 800 people.

That growth rate represents remarkable progress.

The state-of-the-art park provides an environment where technology-based businesses can locate in proximity to faculty, students and alumni, fostering an atmosphere of intellectual exchange and gaining access to a variety of campus resources. The research park is governed by a board of managers that includes Ed McMillan '69 ACES, chairman of the UI Alumni Association Board of Directors, and Pat Daly '72 (UIC), former chairman of the UIAA board.

Currently, the park contains 314,000 square feet of space in five buildings. The first two multi-tenant buildings are 100 percent occupied by corporations including Aventis, Caterpillar, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, Phonak and Science Applications International Corp.

The park is also home to a Motorola research building and EnterpriseWorks, the U of I's business incubator.

The park, south of the Assembly Hall, was built and continues to be expanded by Champaign developers Peter Fox and Clinton Atkins '63 BUS.

The two intend to build some 500,000 square feet of office and laboratory space over the next several years.

Plans currently on the drawing board include a park-and-ride day-care center, a hotel, conference center and ice rink facility adjoining a golf course and related UI athletic facilities.

According to the Association of University Research Parks, the U of I's park is growing at three times the average rate of such parks in the Big Ten. The average metropolitan statistical area in the Big Ten is 400,000 people, compared with 180,000 in the Champaign-Urbana area.