photo by: BTBC presentation

A rendering shows the BTBC's new facility, which is scheduled to begin construction as early as Friday.

As a business incubator supported by local tax dollars prepares to expand, county leaders say they want to see more emphasis on making sure women and people of color also benefit from the center.

As part of its meeting Wednesday, the Douglas County Commission met with officials from the Bioscience and Technology Business Center to get an update on the center’s operations and its upcoming expansion project. The BTBC receives annual funding from the county, the city, the University of Kansas and the local chamber of commerce, and is preparing to begin construction on a new facility in the coming days.

Last fall, KU received a $7.8 million grant to expand the center’s footprint with a new facility constructed adjacent to the center’s main building at 2029 Becker Drive on KU’s west campus, as the Journal-World previously reported. The expansion — the third phase in a 20-year plan that began when the center opened in 2010 — will also launch KU’s Innovation Park project, which calls for the addition of several more buildings in the years to come.

Commission Chair Shannon Portillo told BTBC representatives that she appreciated and recognized that the investment of funds and time in the center helped create high-paying jobs that benefit the overall economy, but she asked how the center was making sure those investments were made in equitable ways.

“We know that jobs in the sciences and these higher paying jobs tend to be disproportionately held by white men,” Portillo said. “And so what kind of efforts does the BTBC undertake to ensure that women and people of color have access to these resources and have the kind of mentorship that they need to really succeed in this space?”

photo by: Douglas County

County leaders met with representatives of the BTBC as part of a virtual meeting on Feb. 24, 2020.

Adam Courtney, vice president of finance for the BTBC, responded that the center does not currently have any specific diversity programing, but that was an area it was looking to “mature in.” More specifically, Courtney said that the center has been working with the City of Lawrence as it creates its economic development strategic plan, which he noted has a focus on diversity and inclusion.

As part of the meeting, BTBC presented information about the number of companies and jobs the center has created, which as of Feb. 1 comprises 38 current companies and 19 companies that have “graduated” or moved to other facilities, for a total of 406 direct jobs with a payroll of about $24.5 million. Responding to a question from Portillo about that information, BTBC Executive Chairman LaVerne Epp said that the center did not track demographics of company founders or employees, but that was absolutely something the center could track in the future, and that the city had actually offered to assist the center in that regard.

Commissioner Patrick Kelly and Vice Chair Shannon Reid agreed with Portillo that paying attention to equity, diversity and inclusion was important. Kelly said that he thought they all felt strongly about the topic, and said that perhaps someday the center could have a women and minority recruitment program. Kelly said he would like to see “sharp focus” on equity and diversity efforts during future budget discussions.

“That’s really where we need to be spending our government dollars to make sure that we’re expanding the breadth of the economic development — that it’s not for the few and privileged, but it’s for all,” Kelly said.

Epp said that while financial support from the county was important, so were the ideas that commissioners have provided over the years. He said that included the suggestions about equity and diversity made at Wednesday’s meeting.

“The funding is important, yes, but ideas, suggestions, nudging us in the right direction on things like this, is also important,” Epp said. “And we’ve benefited greatly from our relationship with the county on those kinds of things.”

According to the presentation, the county, city and KU all provide $200,000 annually for operational funding for the BTBC. The county and the city also both provide $25,000 annually toward an incentive program, and both provided $375,000 toward capital costs of the phase three expansion project.

Regarding the new building, Courtney said that the space is already 62% leased and he expected it to be more than 75% leased by the time the building is ready to open. Fully occupied, the building is expected to house seven to 12 companies and 200 to 250 employees, according to the presentation. Courtney said construction on the 66,000 square-foot building would begin as early as Friday, and that it was expected to be complete in 12 or 13 months.