photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World File Photo

The Douglas County Courthouse is pictured in September 2018.

The Douglas County Commission will soon learn more about a local facility dedicated to creating more businesses and jobs in the area.

During its meeting Wednesday, the commission will meet with officials from the Bioscience and Technology Business Center to learn about how it operates and what the center’s goals are for the community. The center, which has its main facility at 2029 Becker Drive on the University of Kansas’ West Campus, provides space for numerous companies that bring jobs to Lawrence.

The discussion is for informational purposes, and the commissioners are not slated to take any action during the meeting.

The center aims to create more jobs and expand the tax base for the local economy by leveraging KU’s resources, according to a presentation included in the meeting agenda. Some of the industries the center focuses on include human health, animal heath, software and IT, engineering and agricultural technology, among others. According to the center’s website, it currently features about 85,000 square feet of laboratory and office space and houses more than 50 companies that employ over 310 employees.

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. 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.

The new facility is expected to add between seven to 12 businesses to the center, including about 200 to 250 new jobs, according to the presentation. Although the expansion construction is not yet finished, the center has pre-leased about 62% of the new space.

The Innovation Park project includes adding about 10 buildings nearby for more than 70 businesses to use for lab and office space, possibly bringing more than 2,000 jobs to the area, according to the presentation.

The County Commission will convene at 5:30 p.m. for its regular business meeting. The meeting will be open to the walk-in public at the county courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St., but a link for the public to watch live online is available on the county’s website, douglascountyks.org. Residents may also call in and listen by phone by dialing 1-312-626-6799 and entering meeting ID 982 4861 3567.

Full audio from the meeting will continue to be posted on the county’s website, as usual. The meeting’s full agenda may also be found on the county’s website.