Life Sciences Initiative

About the Program

Category: Community and Economic Development (Best in Category)

Year: 2011

Wayne County’s Life Sciences Initiative was launched three years ago to stimulate economic and commercial development in the life sciences and health care industries of Southeast Michigan. In its effort to attract life sciences companies to the region, Wayne County has even gone so far as to reach beyond its borders to form partnerships with both private and academic stakeholders in order to facilitate the growth of the industry within the region. Even as Michigan shed over 170,000 private sector jobs between 1999 and 2006, employment in the life sciences increased 10 percent. While pursuing partnerships in 2008, Wayne County became privy to an opportunity to purchase one of Pfizer’s largest facilities, which it was intending on closing. The County, along with several private sector partners, converted the space into the Michigan Life Sciences and Innovation center (MLSIC), which sought to catalyze growth by combining state-of-the-art laboratory space and entrepreneurial support all in one location. Within a year and a half of its grand opening, the MLSIC boasted 96 percent occupancy, and served as the host space for several of the state’s most noteworthy life sciences companies. Along with the development of the MLSIC came Wayne County’s Stem Cell Development and Commercialization Center – the first of its kind in Michigan, and the Michigan Center for Regenerative Medicine – A building adjacent to the MLSIC which will serve as a magnet facility for adult stem-cell research, manufacturing and commercialization. The development of these facilities fosters a feeling of having a “one-stop-shop” for companies and organizations specializing in the development and commercialization of stem cell therapy. Moreover, Wayne County entered into a partnership with vanguard Health Systems, Inc. and the Detroit Medical Center to attract hundreds of millions of dollars in investments for its facilities. The DMC/Vanguard deal is projected to both preserve and create thousands of jobs in Detroit’s ever-expanding midtown neighborhood. Further, it will result in $850 million of capital improvements to the DMC and its related hospital and other facilities. Such significant investments are expected to spur additional redevelopment in Detroit’s Midtown neighborhood, including the recent discussion of 15,000 new residents and businesses in Midtown by 2015. Wayne County’s Life Sciences Initiative is a shining example of how government can work to create synergies between a county’s outstanding universities, teaching hospitals, life science companies, and neighboring counties in order to ensure a strong and growing economic presence in the years ahead.