A Vision for “Research Park Commons” and EnterpriseWorks Incubator Expansion

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's recently released campus strategic plan includes several references to increasing investments in the University of Illinois Research Park and the EnterpriseWorks incubator with the express goal to grow the entrepreneurial ecosystem and support economic development in the region.

The Research Park Master Plan, adopted in September 2018 by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees, aims to double its size and continue attracting more companies, employees, and private development.

At Monday's University of Illinois Research Park LLC Board of Managers meeting, members discussed a vision toward those goals, called the EnterpriseWorks Expansion and Research Park Commons. This vision is a concept for a new building that would address two known factors impacting the future growth of the Research Park: 1) a lack of adequate lab facilities for growth-stage startup companies, in the community and throughout the state of Illinois; and 2) the need for additional Research Park community spaces providing an environment for creative collisions between the companies, employees, and faculty.

The full EnterpriseWorks Expansion and Research Park Commons project report is available HERE. The University of Illinois Research Park master plan is available HERE. 

No formal action was taken by the UIRP LLC Board of Managers. 

The study was commisioned by the University of Illinois Research Park LLC and completed by Clark Enersen Partners, a firm out of Kansas City that specializes in scientific buildings on college campuses.