Expansion eyed by Slater

A plan by the Slater Technology Fund to move into Providence’s Jewelry District has been formally endorsed by the R.I. Science and Technology Council (STAC).
But Slater is not seeking any public funding for its relocation and expansion plans, as the state struggles to correct its biggest budget crisis in decades.
At its meeting on Jan. 25, STAC – a coalition of business, academic and government leaders aimed at increasing scientific research and supporting the growth of new research-based companies in the state – recommended expanding Slater’s business incubator and relocating its entire operation to the Jewelry District, as part of a larger strategy for growing the state’s technology and life-science industries.
Slater, the taxpayer-backed venture fund, has operated an incubator for startup technology and life-science companies at its offices in Richmond Square on Providence’s East Side for four years.
Slater holds the master lease on the space and sub-leases it to startup companies for about $25 per square foot, offering the startups inexpensive lab space, access to technology and equipment, and interaction with other scientists and entrepreneurs.
Six companies currently reside at the incubator. Slater needs a larger space to support the growing number of entrepreneurs looking to spin biotechnology companies out of labs at Brown University and the state’s other universities and research institutions, said Richard G. Horan, Slater’s managing director for life sciences and health care.
Slater is looking for enough space to accommodate at least 10 startup ventures, and hopes to relocate into a building with at least 10,000 square feet of space, with the ability to expand the incubator to 20,000 square feet within two to three years.
It is targeting the Jewelry District to position itself at the center of a regional hub for biomedical activity expected to coalesce in the coming years, following the relocation of Interstate 195, the expansion of Brown’s medical school, and a possible merger of Lifespan and Care New England.
Slater will identify potential public and private partners in the build-out of the new facility through an RFP process later this month. &#8226