State Funds For Tacoma Science Labs, Economic Development, Clean Water

Here’s a piece of good news for Tacoma: Washington State finally has a budget signed, and it’ll be sending a little extra money Tacoma’s way. According to an article earlier this week in the Daily Index, the money will fund science labs as a part of the Urban Clean Water Innovation Partnership Zone (IPZ).

The budget, which Gregoire signed Monday during a ceremony at Tacoma Community College, provides UW Tacoma with $2 million for a new “Clean Water Innovation Development and Technology Transfer Laboratory,” to be located in remodeled space on campus, along with $800,000 for specialized lab equipment to support commercial development of clean water technologies at the Center for Urban Waters. In addition, the Washington State University Puyallup Research and Extension Center, which partners with UW Tacoma on the IPZ and other applied science initiatives, receives $800,000 to modify its Salmon Toxicology Lab into a multi-use Aquatic Toxicology Lab.

The Innovation Partnership Zone (IPZ), established in October 2011, aims to drive economic development in the South Sound around clean water technology.

The expansion of the labs brings the State money to Tacoma, and should create a draw for students to UWT. It’s also bigger news in that the IPZ is expected to continue to encourage investment and facilitate the development of related business.

This seems like a positive way to leverage Tacoma’s assets in terms of both our universities and our location on the Sound. Green technology seems to be a hot area right now, and that doesn’t seem likely to change in the near future. We look forward to seeing what the IPZ and the universities can accomplish.

For more information, read the story from the Tacoma Daily Index