Business Park in Lawrence
History & Mission
Passionate About the Future of Kansas
We’re deeply connected with the long-term economic growth and future of Kansas and its businesses. Our team of professionals are focused on helping technology & bioscience companies — no matter the size.
OUR CALLING
The KU Innovation Park Mission
The Park’s mission is to build a more modern, resilient, and diverse regional economy for Lawrence, Douglas County, and the state of Kansas. We accomplish this through creating high-wage jobs and strategically developing the region’s high-growth, innovation-focused bioscience and technology industry clusters – all while leveraging the strengths of the University of Kansas as an affiliate.
KU Innovation Park embodies an entire community committed to innovation and economic development. The Park has become one of the fastest-growing business parks in Lawrence and Northeast Kansas.
Our Coalition
In Partnership With Community Stakeholders
The Park’s unique coalition model represents a decade-long public-private partnership among the City of Lawrence, Douglas County, the Chamber of Lawrence, and the University of Kansas.
Together, these four stakeholders comprise the region’s most comprehensive economic development partnership, representing the interests and combined resources of regional government, business, and academic stakeholders.
What We Do
Customizable Business Services
KU Innovation Park is a community for cutting-edge researchers, business leaders, and creative entrepreneurs actively working to bring innovative ideas and solutions to commercial markets.
The experienced Park team provides a comprehensive range of business management assistance and services in addition to leasing highly-specialized wet lab, dry lab, and professional office space to bioscience and technology companies.
These services include:
Market/Technology Validation
Student Business Analyst Support
Grant Support and Technical Assistance
Capital Strategy Formation
Finance/Accounting Services
Marketing Assistance
Stakeholder Connections
Our Facilities
Providing Customizable Spaces for Your Biggest Ideas
The Park's facilities span three locations across Lawrence, with more to come as we work toward our 15-year plan. We designed our flexible business park spaces to be customizable to meet your company's specific needs.
Main Facility
The Park’s Main Facility, situated on KU’s West Campus, is an ideal setting for startup companies to begin their journey, equipped with a variety of wet labs, dry labs, collaborative workspaces, and common areas.
Phase III
Our newest expansion facility, Phase III of the Park’s 2036 growth plan, offers cutting-edge laboratory accommodations, contemporary office environments, and collaborative workspaces. It’s the perfect choice for expanding companies in search of extra room as they outgrow our incubator facilities.
West
The Park’s West facility adds around 17,000 square feet of space conveniently located near multiple KU research facilities, including the KU Center for Environmentally Beneficial Catalysis. The facility strengthens the Park’s ties to ongoing research at KU through partnerships between projects.
Resident Companies
Resident companies range from small businesses and startups commercializing KU technologies to government agencies and the R&D arms of prominent industry leaders.
Our Team
The KU Innovation Park team draws on broad and diverse business experiences to provide mentorship, guidance, and ad hoc business services.
The Park’s History
The journey toward KU Innovation Park started in 2005, with the collaborative creation of the Lawrence-Douglas County Biosciences Authority. A few years later, construction started on what would become the Bioscience & Technology Business Center. This small bioscience incubator housed numerous startup companies, many based on the commercialization of University of Kansas research intellectual property. As its focus and footprint expanded, the area on KU's West Campus developed into KU Innovation Park - a regional engine of commercialization, entrepreneurship, small business support, and industry-university collaboration.
One of the Park's most unique advantages is its location on private land owned by the Kansas University Endowment Association directly adjacent to KU's research circle. This is a dense concentration of bioscience research facilities and KU's nationally recognized School of Pharmacy. The proximity to the university, with the retained independence and ability to remain entirely within the private sector, creates an ideal environment for commercializing university research and facilitating industry-university collaboration.
We are dedicated to the continual enhancement of local infrastructure, nurturing talent, harnessing valuable resources, and providing unwavering business support. In addition to fostering the growth of startups, the Park is focused on recruiting larger firms, established industry leaders, and government agencies that wish to work close to startups and those seeking to leverage university resources. If the Park was fully realized today, it would represent 11.6% of Lawrence's total annual employment. These employment opportunities predominantly comprise high-wage positions within scientific, technical, professional services, and management sectors. These roles are traditionally underrepresented in the region, signaling a vital and diversified contribution to the local economy.
Build and grow your business.
Reach out to the KU Innovation Park team to learn how your vision can grow at our business park in Lawrence.