Technically, UI Sees Future Unveils 25-Year Plan For Post Falls Research Park

Over the next 25 years, a bustling center for research, technology and academics will emerge in Post Falls.

University students will rub shoulders with owners of high-tech companies. Professors will work in labs on company-funded research. Ideas will flow between academia and the business world, benefiting both.

That’s the vision, at least, behind the University of Idaho Research Park.

At present, the park is operating in 7,500 square feet of rented space. But university officials have grand plans for 100 grassy acres located near Interstate 90 and Riverbend Avenue.

A master plan unveiled Thursday shows a tree-lined boulevard winding through buildings housing 1 million square feet of office space and classrooms.

The university will offer its first class in rented quarters this summer. Officials also are pursuing $2 million in low-interest federal loans for the park’s first permanent building. They hope to break ground later this year.

When the park is completed, it will house the equivalent of five Lake City High Schools, or 20 Fernan Elementary Schools, said Jon Mueller of Landmark, who designed the master plan.

But that’s at least 25 years down the road, officials said.

“Research parks don’t develop as fast as business or industrial parks, because we’re more selective,” said park director Doug McQueen.

So far, he’s found four tenants who fit the park’s profile. They’re mainly small, high-tech companies that see benefits from close association with the university.

Shawn Swanby moved into the research park’s rented space last week. For the past two years, he’s run a company called “Ednetics” out of his home.

Ednetics sells academic hardware and software to schools and colleges. Because the five-person company already does a lot of business with the University of Idaho, the move was a natural one, Swanby said.

David Minerath, who owns Quest Integration, also was thinking of connections when he signed up for space in the research park.

As owner of a two-person company, he wanted more colleagues for an exchange of ideas and advice.

“It’s not like I moved into a strip mall with a barbershop and video place down the street. It’s much more specialized,” said Minerath, a mechanical engineer who sells engineering and manufacturing software and provides training and support services.

The two other tenants are LCF of Los Angeles, which builds amplifiers, and a pension management company.

McQueen envisions a mix of small and large research and hightech companies in the park. He’s working closely with Job Plus President Bob Potter to find more tenants.

Some companies will rent space from the university. Others will buy parcels to construct their own buildings. The Jacklin family owns most of the 100-acre site. They’ve given the university 28 acres along a bend in the Spokane River. The Jacklin family also will donate an additional acre to the university for every four the family sells.

The research park is the first in Idaho, one of about 140 in the United States.

Development of the park has been a 10-year dream for community residents, said Dick Jacobsen, dean of the university’s College of Engineering.

“The community has always needed more economic opportunities, more high tech jobs, and more high paying jobs,” he said.