By Michael V. Hannigan
The Biotech Manufacturing Center of Texas (BMC) received more than $3 million in state and federal grants in its 10 years of existence in addition to the $1 million in loans it received from the Athens Economic Development Corporation (AEDC), according to a report created by BMC officials earlier this year.
The report was in the form of a business plan that BMC officials presented to the AEDC in April while the two entities were trying to renegotiate the BMC’s building lease.
According to the report, grants received by the BMC included:
– $800,000 from the U.S. Department of Commerce in August 2005 for the office building and equipment. The AEDC was a co-recipient of this grant.
– Almost $1.3 million in three Texas Workforce Grants in 2007, 2008 and 2009 for workforce training and training equipment.
– $942,000 from the U.S. Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology and Texas A&M.
The BMC was a non-profit organization created to be an incubator for medical device companies. The BMC board decided to shut down operations recently and earlier this month the AEDC and Athens City Council approved a plan to try and keep the center out of bankruptcy court.
Under that plan, city officials hope for the AEDC to get back about $300,000 of the $1 million owed by the BMC ($50,000 plus the value of training equipment) and keep continuous control of the building that once housed the BMC. And while the AEDC has always been the owner of the building, there are upgrades of value that have been made by the BMC.
The BMC report to the AEDC also includes an economic impact section, where it reads: “The BMC has had a significant economic impact in our community and is a key component in our medical manufacturing infra-structure (sic). As a result of the efforts of the BMC Board and staff, the value of the AEDC and City of Athens assets have grown significantly.”
The report lists the BMC’s economic impact as:
– BMC Employment: The report says the BMC maintained between 15 and 28 employees for the past 10 years, with a total payroll from start to finish of about $4.275 million.
– West Pharmaceutical Services: West is the only company cited in the report. It was a tenant at the BMC and negotiations on a new lease to keep the company in the building continues with the AEDC. West purchased Pharma-Pen, the company created by Rick Gillespie, in 2007. According to the report, “Rick Gillespie has stated that without the BMC, West would likely have moved out of Athens.”
– Education Program: According to the report, “This program helped launch the Medical Engineering Technology Program at TVCC.” The report also says that 80 students from Athens ISD have signed up for fall classes to be taught at the BMC this year.
– Certified Texas Manufacturing Center: According to the report, a federal program was recently announced to assist manufacturers in 10 states. “Texas is one of the states chosen and the BMC will have a larger role in this program starting in September.”