The City of Roanoke is teaming up with Carilion Clinic to bring new businesses to the area with a new biotechnology incubator.
Known as RoVa Labs at Carilion Clinic, the incubator will support the growth of research spinoffs and start-up companies as they work to commercialize groundbreaking research.
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This comes as a result of a partnership between the City of Roanoke, Carilion Clinic, The Roanoke Blacksburg Innovation Alliance, Virginia Western Community College and Virginia Tech. The shared lab space will bring in companies from sectors such as life sciences, biotechnology, and healthcare sectors
This will support research and start-up companies looking to expand into Southwest Virginia.
City of Roanoke Director of Economic Development Marc Nelson believes that the RoVa Labs will act similar incubators in cities like San Francisco and Boston.
“We didn’t have anything like that, so we felt it was important - the consortium of partners - felt it important to create something so great researchers can come here, enjoy life, invest in the economy, be in the community, and then come up with something great there and then do the work here,” Nelson said.
The RoVa Labs also promise to be a major driver of the economy, bringing up to 250 new jobs to the area within the next five years.
“It is a fantastic asset that sits in the middle of the city that links the southern part, where you have all this great research going on, to our vibrant downtown,” Nelson said. “It’s also a really good regional tool. I think what you’re starting to see is you’re going to see a lot of these entities who are going to be coming up with things like this and then linking it together by working together.”