RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC – REACH NC, the Web portal that helps bring the expertise of thousands of North Carolina-based researchers to businesses, developers, government agencies, and the public, has a new home at The Frontier, the new state-of-the-art space in Research Triangle Park designed to foster collaboration and community among business people and entrepreneurs.
REACH NC staff will move to the new space—the first completed project at RTP’s Park Center development—next week. The move will give REACH NC (Research, Engagement and Capabilities Hub of North Carolina) greater visibility among RTP tenants who could benefit from tapping into its portal for information about experts at North Carolina universities and research centers.
“REACH NC was designed to make the expertise of our world-class universities and research centers accessible to the North Carolina business and entrepreneurial communities,” said Sharlini Sankaran, PhD, executive director of REACH NC. “Putting our offices in the heart of RTP, in a space that was built to foster collaboration and collegiality, is another way for us to bridge the gap between university research and the needs of the private sector. It’s a fantastic workspace and will put REACH NC in front of many people who could benefit from it.”
REACH NC pulls together information on more than 10,000 researchers, nearly 75,000 grant awards, and 350,000 publications from 20 academic and research institutions throughout North Carolina. These include UNC-Chapel Hill, NC State University, Duke University, and RTI International. Access to those experts and their work is a valuable asset to businesses and agencies looking for help in solving scientific and technical problems, and to the state and developers who want to bring new businesses to North Carolina. REACH NC also helps researchers easily find other experts with similar or complementary skills, making it easier for North Carolina academic institutions to form teams that can compete for large research grants.
“The Frontier makes perfect sense as the home base for REACH NC,” said Bob Geolas, president and chief executive with Research Triangle Park. “The Frontier is an example of the workplace of the future, where collaboration and access to information are key to gaining a competitive advantage. Businesses leaders today need every advantage they can get, and REACH NC is a gateway to the expertise that can help them solve problems and better serve their customers. We are proud they will find this important resource right here in RTP.”
The Frontier, which opened in January 2015, serves as RTP’s testing ground for ideas. The 142,000-square-foot former IBM building has been transformed into a multi-functional space that includes free collaboration and meeting space, as well as private offices at affordable lease rates. The Frontier is also a hub for meetings and events. Home to weekly food truck rodeos and happy hours, the site is also open for anyone in the community to utilize.
Stakeholders and interested members of the public can learn more about REACH NC and other businesses that call the Frontier home at the Frontier Fair on July 24 beginning at 11:30 a.m. The fair will include the weekly Food Truck Rodeo.
REACH NC is supported by initial funding from NC TraCS at UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC General Administration, UNC’s Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI), and Duke University. Additional support has been received from the Golden LEAF Foundation, the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, the Triangle Universities Center for Advanced Studies, Inc. and the Research Triangle Foundation.
For more information on REACH NC, please see www.reachnc.org.
For more information on The Frontier, see http://www.rtp.org/about-us/the-frontier/
