CULTURE OF INNOVATION: Forsyth County, Winston-Salem are hub for medical marvels, high-tech, research and entrepreneurs.

• Author: Blake, Kathy

When Dr. Anthony Atala moved from Boston to Forsyth County 17 years ago, downtown Winston-Salem's main landmark was two tall smokestacks marked "R.J.R. TOB. Co." overlooking vacant historic buildings and warehouses.

That downtown plot has since transformed to the Innovation Quarter, 330-plus acres of mixed-use space filled with 90 companies pursuing biomedical science, information technology, clinical services and businesses that impact the regenerative medicine field. The community also includes residential development and retail. Education that aids business and research is also a major component with the presence of Wake Forest University's School of Arts and Science's biomedical graduate programs and a branch of Forsyth Technical Community College.

And more is coming. The Innovation Quarter's Phase Two with 2.4 million square feet is in the works.

"It was abandoned, old factories, and that is what really attracted us as we were moving here to start the institutes. We saw the way this park had been laid out, and we knew this was an area that could focus on technology," says Atala, founder and director of the Wake Forest Institute of Regenerative Medicine [WFIRM], "There was this very strong medical school, and the hospital, and the cancer center all in one central space. To have everything together is really essential. The state and the city and the institution, they're all aligned, and that's what makes it special."

"We're in this bubble," says Nick Gonzalez, a partner and broker in the commercial real estate firm Linville Team Partners, which serves Winston-Salem, Greensboro and High Point. "And it's a good bubble. ... The medical community of Winston-Salem is somewhat famous." Since 2014, his company has done more than $ 150 million in transactions in downtown Winston-Salem. He went on to discuss how the varied features of the community must be assembled the right way.

"A lot of our clients are developers that have invested heavily in downtown. When you're doing something downtown, it's almost like you have a curated vision of how it's all going to fit together with the other puzzle pieces," Gonzalez says. "It's like there's an ecosystem that's working, and you're disrupting the ecosystem for the better. Adding something to that vibrancy, like an apartment complex, or retail, or renovating an existing property, there has to be a sensitivity to that, that doesn't apply to other areas. You're fitting into the ecosystem that's already there."

Along with a variety of purposes, the variety of employees in Winston-Salem and the Innovation Quarter make them distinctive.

"The town has an amazing environment, because you have the combination of academia and graduate schools, undergraduate students, and the Innovation Quarter has been totally revitalized with a lot of young scientists and engineers," says Atala, who also is a multiple-award-recipient professor and the Chair of the Department of Urology at Wake Forest. "You have ... entrepreneurs and start-ups who are building the next generation of products in technology, " he adds.

"The entire innovation ecosystem that exists within the city of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County have rallied to place a specific emphasis on fulfilling our mission of being the City of Arts and Innovation," says James Patterson, Innovation Quarter director of marketing and communications. "That means investment in initiatives and infrastructure that create an inviting atmosphere for research and innovation."

The city's population of 250,320 has grown by 16,500 people in the last decade and by almost 50,000 since 2000. Its hub of research, technology and education overflows beyond city limits.

Allegacy Federal Credit Union is an example of a Forsyth County institution with deep...