CSU Board of Trustees Approves Cal Poly Technology Park

SAN LUIS OBISPO – The California State University Board of Trustees approved Cal Poly’s request to design and build the proposed Technology Park Project Building at their meeting Sept. 16. The Trustees accepted the design-build proposal of $4.5 million submitted by Rarig Construction of San Luis Obispo. Another local firm, Omni Design Group, is the project architect.

The project will be a 25,000 square foot, two-story building on Mount Bishop Road. The building will be leased to private high-tech firms seeking to locate their businesses on Cal Poly’s campus, enabling them to work closely with the university’s renowned faculty and students.

The goal of the public-private partnerships is to spur innovative technologies, facilitate research grants, create new jobs, provide internships for students, and deliver quality experiences that fit well with Cal Poly’s learn-by-doing philosophy.

Funding for the project was provided by a combination of sources including private donations, a grant from the US Economic Development Administration and from CSU lease-revenue bonds. The bonds will be repaid using income from the leases. “Susan Opava, Cal Poly dean of Research and Graduate Programs, was as strong advocate of the project and was instrumental in assembling the necessary funding,” said Cal Poly’s Vice President for Administration and Finance, Larry Kelley.

Said Cal Poly President Warren J. Baker, “Public-private collaborations will be increasingly important for advancing applied research. We at Cal Poly look forward to the opportunities that innovative, high-tech firms can bring to our campus and to our region.”

Construction on the Technology Park Project Building will begin this fall with completion expected by May 2010.

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