Contact: Rob Ostrander or Shana Stribling 202.224.5721
Friday, May 12, 2006

Columbia, MO - U.S. Senators Jim Talent (R-Mo.) and Kit Bond (R-Mo.) today discussed their efforts to create jobs and economic growth in Mid-Missouri at the new Discovery Ridge research park at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Sen. Talent last year secured $4 million in the Highway bill for Hwy. 63 in Boone County which will help build a new interchange to provide traffic access to the new research park.

“This new partnership will benefit the entire region,” said Sen. Talent. “Discovery Ridge will open the door for new research opportunities and attract new jobs to the area. This is an example of how transportation infrastructure funding helps generate economic growth for Missouri.”

“Discovery Ridge is a key step in creating the biotechnology corridor from St. Louis to Kansas City,” said Sen. Bond, a key author of the federal highway bill and chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that funds the Department of Transportation. “Through it we hope to attract private investment and employers like ABC Labs who will create high-paying jobs for this area and advance the life sciences in Missouri.”

Discovery Ridge is a new research park in Columbia, located off of Highway 63 on the South Farm campus of the University of Missouri-Columbia. It is a 1,452 acre agriculture experiment station, located approximately three miles southeast from the main Columbia campus. The park will serve as a center for high-growth, high-dollar advanced technology and ancillary service firms.