Bioscience Projects on Front (Bunsen) Burner
Published Mar 21, 2007
When a community has an asset as formidable as Corpus Christi’s medical sector, new companies complementing and capitalizing on that strength tend to emerge. In Corpus Christi, business leaders are working to make sure that happens.
“We are beginning to selectively target the biosciences where there can be a relationship with the medical community in health sciences here,” explains Steve Jenkins, vice president of business development for the Corpus Christi Regional Economic Development Corp.
About 14,000 people are employed in the health sciences in Corpus Christi, thanks to four major hospitals, some of which have research programs.
In addition, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi boasts a College of Nursing and Health Sciences and a College of Science and Technology. Students may earn master’s degrees in several biological fields, such as microbiology and molecular/cell biology, as well as nursing.
“Also, there is a move to get third- and fourth-year medical students [from the Texas A&M College of Medicine in College Station] more involved with hospitals down here,” Jenkins says. “Because of the number of hospitals we have, we can accommodate the number of internships necessary.”
Thus, entrepreneurs and investors see Corpus Christi as ripe with health-science infrastructure and people with the medical, scientific and technical know-how to support bioscience ventures.
“We’re working with two entrepreneurism companies right now, in terms of structuring their deals and helping them get the financing necessary to move forward,” Jenkins says.
While Jenkins could not reveal the name of the companies that his organization is working to lure, he says one would produce a base ingredient for pharmaceuticals and might employ as many as 200 workers when up and running. Test laboratories and agricultural biosciences also offer potential, he adds.
Story by Sharon H. Fitzgerald
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