The VA Bio+Tech Park is a 34-acre commercial life sciences hub in downtown

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

adjacent to the

VCU Medical Center The VCU Medical Center is Virginia Commonwealth University's medical campus located in downtown Richmond, Virginia, in the Court End neighborhood. VCU Medical Center used to be known as the Medical College of Virginia (MCV), which merged with the ...

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virgini ...

. The park was incorporated in 1992 and opened in 1995. It houses nearly 70 public and private life sciences companies, research institutes affiliated with VCU, and prominent state and national medical laboratories. Residents include the national headquarters for the

United Network for Organ Sharing The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) is a non-profit, scientific and educational organization that administers the only Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) in the United States, established () by the U.S. Congress in 1984 b ...

(UNOS), the Virginia Department of Forensic Science, the Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, and

True Health Diagnostics True Health Diagnostics was founded by Chris Grottenthaler in March 2014 in Frisco, Texas, a clinical laboratory company to sell and develop medical tests. Grottenthaler had formerly worked in private equity. True Health was CLIA certified in Te ...

. The park's largest tenant is Richmond-based

Altria Altria Group, Inc. (previously known as Philip Morris Companies, Inc.) is an American corporation and one of the world's largest producers and marketers of tobacco, cigarettes and related products. It operates worldwide and is headquartered in ...

Group, Inc., which opened the metal-clad, 450,000-square-foot, $350 million Center for Research & Technology on the site in 2007. The heavily secured complex employs 600 scientists, engineers and support staff. From 1995 to 2011, the park generated approximately $108 million in tax revenue for the Commonwealth, according to the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. The added economic impact attributable to the park since founding is $3.8 billion. The park's business incubation program has graduated more than 40 client companies including three publicly traded firms, and those client companies and graduates have attracted more than $400 million in equity, grant, and strategic capital. Companies and organizations in the Bio+Tech Park are housed in nine buildings that make up roughly 1.5 million square feet of space and employ more than 2,000 people. The VA Bio+Tech Park's Executive Director & President/CEO is Chandra Briggman. Unlike states such as North Carolina and Maryland that fund their research parks, the Virginia site does not receive direct money from the Commonwealth, City of Richmond, or VCU. The Park is funded mostly by parking and leasing fees.

References

{{coord missing, Virginia Science parks in the United States Buildings and structures in Richmond, Virginia 1992 establishments in Virginia