Purdue Research Park: state's largest concentration of technology companies.

WHEN ASKED TO NAME which businesses, corporations and organizations were those that the state could ill afford to lose, Indiana business leaders ranked Purdue Research Park No. 7 on the "Indiana's 25 Keepers: Keeping Good Company" list (Indy Men's Magazine and Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick, 2005).

The award-winning Purdue Research Park is Indiana's first Certified Technology Park and home to the state's largest concentration of technology companies. Recently, its flagship business incubator--already one of the largest in the country--was expanded by 45,000 square feet to accommodate the space demands of more than 40 high-tech client firms.

Because of the unusually close ties between Purdue University and the research park's technology firms, Purdue's efforts to accelerate business growth through technology transfer have been praised nationally along with seven other universities, including Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Accelerating Economic Development through University Technology Transfer, 2005).

"Purdue's involvement with its entrepreneurs puts its research park ahead of the technology-transfer pack" said Joseph Hornett, senior vice president and treasurer of the Purdue Research Foundation, which manages the university technology commercialization program in addition to the research park. "For instance, our relationship with Purdue researchers led to early identification of a technology's commercial potential, which helped QuadraSpec Inc. break out of the gate with a solid, early-stage management team and investor backing.

"Our close ties with the emerging biotechnology company Andara Life Science Inc. led to the expansion of Purdue's business development services to Indianapolis. And our ongoing connection with cancer treatment company Endocyte Inc. helped it attain anchor position in...