Rochester's DMC gives UMR $3 million for new class and lab space to train future workforce
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The University of Minnesota Rochester wants to expand its lab and classroom space and grow the city’s bioscience talent pool in the process.
“We're here in Rochester working to meet the talent needs and to tailor our programs specifically to those needs. We're pretty agile and able to do that,” said UMR Chancellor Lori Carrell. “It simply cannot happen without facilities expansion."
UMR is proposing to build out the labs and classrooms at a cost of $10 million in Discovery Square, a cluster of buildings in downtown Rochester just blocks away from Mayo Clinic’s main campus, which is designed to be a hub for health innovation, research, and entrepreneurship.
The board overseeing the massive Destination Medical Center redevelopment plan voted Thursday to commit $3 million to the university for the project. Destination Medical Center, or DMC, is the 20-year, $5.6 billion economic development plan to remake Rochester’s downtown, and attract and grow new businesses and expand the employer base beyond the medical giant Mayo Clinic.
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UMR will also ask the city of Rochester to kick in about $5 million from its sales tax revenue for the project, and the university would pay the rest of the cost.
“Discovery Square was envisioned as a place where research, education, and industry converge to create long-term economic opportunity,” said Patrick Seeb, DMC’s executive director. “As the district continues to mature, talent infrastructure becomes increasingly important. This investment helps deepen the University of Minnesota Rochester’s presence in Discovery Square while supporting the workforce and innovation ecosystem needed for Rochester’s next phase of growth.”
Chancellor Carrell said the expansion is the first phase of a plan to accommodate the school's growing student enrollment in programs that focus on science and health. Last year, the school served 1,122 students; by the end of the decade, it expects to more than double its enrollment to 2,260 students. That means construction of additional academic and residential facilities will be necessary, too.
UMR has been particularly tight on space this year, said Carrell, prompting the school to temporarily lease space for classes at the Mayo Civic Center.
Carrell said a lot of UMR graduates go on to work at Mayo Clinic, but the new classroom and lab space would be designed to develop a labor force suited to work in healthcare and medical technology-related startups.
Rochester’s bio, health and med tech industry is growing, said Michael Flynn, who directs economic development for Destination Medical Center. Startups born inside Mayo Clinic have put down roots in the city while other companies have relocated there.
But Flynn said that in order to keep and nurture these burgeoning employers, a steady pipeline of highly skilled talent in areas like biology, chemistry and engineering are essential.
“As we look at this market and as we talk to people inside of this ecosystem and say, ‘What are the things that we need to produce here in order for you all to be successful?,’ talent is clearly one of those,” said Flynn.
Many of these startups are housed in Discovery Square, where the proposed labs and classrooms would be located. In the fall, a new shared lab space for new health tech companies will open down the hall from where UMR wants to build their own lab space.
Carrell said that proximity is a powerful way to inspire students and keep them in Rochester after they graduate.
“A lot of our students can see, on a regular basis, someone going past their classroom with an experimental cancer drug, going up to the Cancer Center, where someone's waiting with hope,” she said.
