Bioscience zone designation may spur Chaska's economy

It took awhile, but the future of Chaska has gotten a boost thanks to the city's designation as one of Minnesota's bioscience development zones.

Already home to some of the biggest hi-tech companies in the metro area, Chaska's bioscience industry is expected to explode with the designation from the state's Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), Chaska officials said.

In a separate state grant, the city already has received $1 million to help in creating the Chaska Biotech Center, a 380-acre business park on the outskirts of town that is projected to produce as many as 10,000 new jobs within the next 10 years, according to city officials.

Chaska was among more than 40 cities that sought the state bioscience designation in 2006. Recently, 19 were awarded the designation, including 14 in the metro area and five outside the Twin Cities, according to DEED.

Chaska was selected because it has a history of fostering hi-tech companies and because of its commitment to building a bioscience park, said Kirsten Morell, a spokeswoman for DEED.

"We thought it would be a nice fit," said Matt Podhradsky, Chaska's economic development coordinator. "We've always had an emphasis on the hi-tech type jobs."

Companies already located in Chaska include Beckman Coulter Inc., which designs and manufactures hospital laboratory products for clinical diagnostics; Lake Region Medical, which makes guide wires used in angioplasty surgeries; and Lifecore Biomedical, which manufactures dental implants, tissue-regeneration products, and hyaluronan -- a chemical produced naturally by the human body that can be used in eye surgery to lubricate the eye and prevent scarring.

Best benefit

Chaska officials said the most important benefit of the designation is that bioscience zones will be featured in state marketing plans and at hi-tech conventions around the country.

The state started its bioscience initiative years ago as a way to promote and attract companies to Minnesota. "We want to encourage these kinds of companies throughout the state," Morell said.

The department began by designating Minneapolis, St. Paul and Rochester as bioscience zones. The designation brought financial incentives to those cities to get their programs started.

The latest designees are not getting any financial incentives, although Morell said Wednesday that there are several state programs that could be tapped to provide financial incentives if a company wants to relocate to Minnesota.

Podhradsky said the fact there are now more than 20 such bioscience zone designations around the state should not be a problem in terms of competition, even though in some cases cities might be vying for the same companies.

"I think the state was strategic enough in its designations," he said, pointing out that Chaska has the only bioscience zone in the southwest-metro area. He said most companies pick a location based on factors other than incentives.

"It's more location-driven," Podhradsky said, noting that companies will often look at the available workforce, land, infrastructure and other amenities at a proposed site.

In that regard, he said, Chaska should do well because of its proximity to freeways, including the new Hwy. 212, as well as airports and the Twin Cities.

"Chaska has always been about job creation," Podhradsky said. "We have more jobs than households."

Herón Márquez Estrada • 612-673-4280