GREATER SACRAMENTO
The future site of Aggie Square — a UC Davis innovation and research hub expected to shape the region ’ s economy — located in Sacramento .
RENDERING COURTESY OF ZGF
In a parking lot sparsely filled with cars and a backhoe that sits idle next to a pile of excavated earth along Stockton Boulevard near 2nd Avenue in Sacramento , UC Davis ’ Aggie Square — an innovation center that is expected to shape the region ’ s economy for decades — will soon begin to take form .
UC Davis Chancellor Gary S . May calls Aggie Square an “ innovation ecosystem ,” a live , learn and play environment where university research can evolve into products for the marketplace . He also sees it as a pillar of the effort to build Sacramento ’ s reputation as a home for tradable sector industries that produce products that bring money into the region from outside its boundaries .
“ We ’ re hoping to transform the image of Sacramento from a government town , which is the perception right now , to a place where innovation happens ,” says May referencing Aggie Square , which will offer partners the opportunity to collaborate with both the university and each other on research .
May says phase one of the project is expected to include four buildings ,
“ WE ’ RE HOPING THAT A LARGE PART OF WHAT WE ’ LL DO WILL EITHER GROW BUSINESSES HERE IN THE SACRAMENTO REGION OR WE ’ LL BE ABLE TO ATTRACT BUSINESS THAT WILL RELOCATE SOME OR ALL OF THEIR OPERATIONS TO THE SACRAMENTO REGION … I THINK AS YOU CREATE AN ECOSYSTEM AROUND MOBILITY INNOVATION , IT WILL NATURALLY ATTRACT OTHER COMPANIES AND WILL ATTRACT VENTURE CAPITAL TO INVEST IN THOSE COMPANIES .”
Arlen Orchard Chairman of the Board of Directors , California Mobility Center
14 comstocksmag . com | 2020