Purdue Research Park officials will break ground Friday (Aug. 22) for its new 80,000-square-foot Innovation Center, which will be home to a national software solution center for global technology giant EDS.

Innovation Center, 3400 Kent Ave., will provide 45,000 square feet of space for more than 200 software engineer and business analyst positions for EDS. The remaining space will be used for other park companies. The Purdue Research Foundation and South Bend-based Holladay Properties Inc. have formed a joint venture to develop Innovation Center, which is slated to open in early 2009.

John Dennis, West Lafayette mayor; Joseph B. Hornett, Purdue Research Foundation senior vice president, treasurer and COO; Rick Shaffer, EDS vice president for global health care; and Doug Hunt, Holladay Properties senior vice president, are expected to speak at the 3 p.m. event.

"EDS is currently operating in a temporary office in the Ross Enterprise Center and already has hired a number of new people," Hornett said. "This new building also will provide much needed space for new companies that want to join the park. We are out of office space and have a waiting list for other new companies to come into the park. We also have companies already in the park that want to expand and need more space."

The 725-acre Purdue Research Park currently provides nearly 700,000 square feet of office, research and work space to its more than 150 companies. The 105,000-square-foot Herman and Heddy Kurz Technology Center also is under construction in the park. More than 3,000 people work in the Purdue Research Park at an average salary of $52,000.

EDS employs more than 1,000 professionals in Indiana. At West Lafayette, it is developing technology solutions for its commercial and government health-care clients around the world.

"EDS has been part of the Indiana business environment for more than 23 years," Shaffer said. "We believe opening our new facility in the Purdue Research Park is a good fit for us, in part because of the support of the area and the amenities that the park offers."

Shaffer said the on-site daycare center and fitness center as well as walking trails and public transportation were important factors in deciding to expand the EDS operation in the state.

State and local leaders provided support to recruit the expansion of EDS in Indiana. The Indiana Economic Development Corp. offered EDS up to $300,000 in training grants based on the company's job creation plans. The city of West Lafayette provided $1.5 million in incentives to bring the company to the area.

"Being involved in the recruitment of EDS to this area was one of my first priorities as mayor of West Lafayette, and it is rewarding to see this collaboration move forward to fruition," Dennis said. "It truly was a partnership among the state, the county and the city, and the result is more than the 200-plus jobs that will add to the whole area's economy."

According to the October 2007 Battelle study Characteristics and Trends in North American Research Parks: 21st Century Directions, "every job in a university research park generated an average of 2.57 jobs in the economy."