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By TOM McLAUGHLIN
News & Record Staff
Establishing a computer modeling and simulation center at Riverstone
Technology Park is essential to bringing high-tech jobs to the area,
say backers of the proposal.
One company already has expressed interest in opening a South Boston
office at Riverstone, provided the modeling and simulation center is
created.
The company, Tetra Tech, was one of the presenters at a conference
Thursday at Riverstone highlighting the benefits of computer simulation
and modeling. Carole Inge, director of the Virginia Tech Halifax
initiative at Riverstone, said Tetra Tech, a $1.6 billion corporation
with 8,500 employees worldwide, was attracted to the region by the
promise of the emerging technology.
What initially brought them and will keep them coming is the modeling
and simulation center, Inge said. But if we don't get this, they're
not coming unless it is an available asset.
Tetra Tech envisions opening an office at Riverstone that initially
would employ five to seven people. The company has Virginia offices in
Falls Church, Fairfax County, Norfolk, Alexandria, Arlington and
Blackstone, among other locations. The Fairfax office employs about 75
people in high-paying careers.
The company would start with a small presence locally, hoping to grow
as business opportunities become available.
Inge estimated the Riverstone modeling and simulation center could
create between 19 and 31 jobs in South Boston within the first two
years of operation. The average salary would be $65,000.
Tetra Tech alone is $85,000 to $100,000 for ten employees, she said.
Brian Caldwell, a Tetra Tech hydologist who spoke at the conference,
hailed the company's growth in the emerging field of environmental
engineering ó and said modeling and simulation technologies are driving
new discoveries and business opportunities.
As an engineering and science firm, everything we do has some
component of modeling and simulation, Caldwell said.
Computer modeling and simulation is a broad term to describe the use of
computer-driven visualization to sort through and analyze massive
amounts of data. The Riverstone center, if built, would employ
state-of-the-art hardware and software to aid research in various
fields such as biotech, nanotechnology, aerospace, agriculture,
biology, botany, chemistry, geology and health care.
Setting up the center won't be cheap: Halifax County is applying for a
$1.2 million Tobacco Commission grant to purchase equipment for a
visualization center and provide operational start-up funds. In
addition, Inge has asked the Halifax County IDA to upfit Riverstone
Building One to provide separate office space for businesses that want
to establish a local presence. The cost of upfitting the building has
not been determined.
Virginia Tech Halifax and its partners in the venture also are
requesting free rent for an 18 month period in order to get the center
established.
As soon as the IDA can upfit the space and if they agree to an 18
month grace period on rent, as soon as those things are done, Tetra
Tech will immediately move people in, she said.
In addition to Tetra Tech, other potential partners are University of
Birmingham (UK), the Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center
(VMASC), NASA and the Southside Business Technology Center in
Martinsville, a spinoff of Virginia Tech.
A business plan for the project has identified three potential
customers: Lindstrand USA, which is developing inflatable devices to
collect, store and analyze air quality data; the city of Roanoke, which
is designing a project to transform the urban zone into a green city ;
and Franklin County, which is considering the removal of a local dam to
create a whitewater park for kayakers and other recreational users.
Dr. Mike McGuiness, executive director of VMASC, called modeling and
simulation a critical technology for the U.S. and said South Boston
can join the burgeoning industry by creating a small business incubator
revolving around modeling and simulation technology at the Riverstone
center.
Do all you can to set aside what's in it for you right now as opposed
to what's good for this region five, ten, 15 years from now, said
McGuinesss.
This center has to be nurtured. But over time, that will pay off, he
added.
The Tobacco Commission will review the grant application this month and
is expected to make a decision in January 2008, said Inge. She said she
is very optimistic of approval.