NEWS-PRESS.COM
MARCH 10, 2010
A team representing the FGCU Innovation Hub is in Tallahassee this week.
Developer Rich Galvano, Lee County Manager Karen Hawes and Wilbur Smith Associates Project Manager Amy Davies have been meeting with state officials.
They made a presentation to the Lee County Days participants to garner their support.
Davies said they are applying for $250 million in federal grant money for the 1.2 million-square-foot project off Alico Road.
The research park is expected to generate almost 6,000 jobs and about $700 million to Southwest Florida plus 2,000-3,000 and $300 million in indirect benefits, Davies said.
�We need to get public school children involved,� said Sarah Ashton, past Sanibel & Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce chairwoman. She said tours should be given of the building.
�It can be a way to get the public involved but also to get schoolchildren involved because they�re the ones who are going to carry this forward to the next generation.�
Galvano and Davies said those kinds of activities are planned for the Thomas Edison exhibition center.
An April 7 groundbreaking is scheduled for the I-Hub.