BTajvajCIAAs7QHTexas has 63 incubators and half of those are in the Central Texas region, said Pike Powers, partner at Fulbright & Jaworski and an advocate for technology economic development.
But incubators can’t just be a real estate play, Powers said. They’ve got to be a combination of people, places, things and great ideas, he said.
All of those ingredients are present in San Marcos at the new Science Technology and Advanced Research, known as STAR Park, a nonprofit incubator, Power said. He spoke Thursday afternoon at the STAR Park Forum in San Marcos.
The STAR Park is Texas State University’s 38-acre research park and home to STAR One, a 20,000 square foot lab to commercial research spinning out of the university. The $7 million facility opened earlier this year and is a key part of Texas’s plan to become a Tier One research university.
More than 100 people turned out to hear speakers from Texas State University, politicians and local business executives talk about San Marcos’ technology industry. The city is home to C-FAN, which makes fan blades for jet engines, Quantum Materials, Thermon, Nexus Health, and Philips. The university also gave tours of the new STAR Park following the event.
Congressman Lamar Smith, (R-TX) who now serves as chairman of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, also spoke at the event. He praised the area for focusing on creating jobs in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math fields and Texas State University for creating a skilled workforce to fill those jobs.
On Thursday morning, Congressman Smith also participated in the Austin Technology Council’s Forum on Cyber Security. The other panelists included Admiral Bobby R. Inman, Lyndon B. Johnson Centennial Chair in National Policy at the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs and Fred Chang, newly appointed Bobby B. Lyle Endowed Centennial Distinguished Chair in Cyber Security at SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering.