City chips in for study of bioscience benefits

The state is poised to put $500 million behind the bioscience industry in Kansas. A group of community leaders want to add $24,120 to make sure it works.

“Everybody seems to agree bioscience is an industry we should be pursuing as part of our economic development,” Mayor David Dunfield said Tuesday. “What we need to do is demonstrate that in concrete terms.”

The Lawrence City Commission on Tuesday approved $6,030 to study the potential benefits of a blooming of bioscience research in the community.

Kansas University and the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce have ponied up similar amounts; Douglas County officials will soon be asked to contribute, as well.

News of the study comes a week after the Kansas House approved a bill to spend $500 million over 12 years to promote bioscience research in the state.

The bill is expected to receive approval in the Kansas Senate, as well.

Ted Haggart, co-chairman of the Chamber’s Life Sciences Task Force, said he estimated 5,000 jobs could be added in Lawrence over the next 10 years if the Economic Growth Act were signed into law.

All told, the initiative could generate an estimated 40,000 jobs along the I-70 corridor between Douglas County, Johnson County and Wyandotte County, House Speaker Doug Mays said during an online chat last week with www.ljworld.com.

The study, to be conducted by KU’s Policy Research Institute, starts with the assumption that 5,000 jobs in Lawrence will become reality, then it will measure the costs and benefits from there.

“We believe that (job number) is a reasonable goal,” said Dunfield, also a member of the chamber task force.

In addition to economic impact, issues to be addressed by the study include the ratio of university to private-sector jobs and the possibility of more new Lawrence residents working in Lawrence, instead of commuting elsewhere.

“Even if it doesn’t go through, or doesn’t go through in the present form, it’s still a great opportunity for Lawrence,” Haggart said. “We need to be prepared, no matter what happens in the Legislature.”