Four years later, new building prepares to welcome corporate tenants
Sunday, October 15, 2023
Four years after Louisiana Tech University first announced the latest extension of its Enterprise Campus, “Tech Pointe II,” the $17 million building is at last ready to cut the ribbon and welcome its corporate tenants.
Backed by a combination of state, city and private funds, the 40,000 square-foot Class A office building will house three companies with strong partnerships with Tech programs, Chief Innovation Officer Davy Norris said.
“This is not typical real estate development where you build a building, figure out how to lease it out, and make some money,” Norris said. “We’re not just trying to lease the building, we’re trying to lease the building to companies that need to be close to the university. Whoever we recruit to this building has to have engagement with Louisiana Tech.”
Right now those companies are Radiance Technologies, a research and development partner for the Department of Defense; business consulting company Crossmark Management Group and LA New Product Development Team.
Each will be entering a five-year lease in the new building.
Located just across the South Homer Street/Dan Reneau Drive intersection from the original Tech Pointe, Tech Pointe II is intended to be the next phase of its predecessor in many ways, offering more extensive office space to fewer, more advanced tenants, rather than acting as an incubator for nearly a dozen startups.
Almost four years to the day since Gov. John Bel Edwards joined Tech President Les Guice in unveiling the plans for the new facility, Edwards is slated to return and help Tech commemorate the project’s completion on Oct. 25.
Through Louisiana Economic Development, Edwards pledged the state would match half the funds needed to make Tech Pointe II a reality if the Louisiana Tech University Foundation, a nonprofit offshoot of the university, could provide the other half.
With rising costs for less square footage than was originally planned before COVID-19 realigned the economy, the state ended up committing $9 million, the city of Ruston joined in to contribute $1 million, and the Tech foundation raised the rest through private funding.
One of the main benefits for Tech from bringing in each of these companies to the new facility is the influx of quality jobs and hands-on experience they will provide to students and graduates, Norris said.
And that benefit cuts both ways.
“If you’re a growing company in Ruston, your biggest challenge is how do I find high-skill talent?” Norris said. “If you can do it through the university, then you can be a growth company in Ruston. If you can’t do it through the university, you’ve got a big challenge.”
Radiance Technologies, which was already leasing a smaller space in the original Tech Pointe, will occupy nearly the entire second and third floors of Tech Pointe II to focus on its R&D responsibilities in microelectronics.
Many Radiance employees, all the way up to CEO Bill Bailey, are Tech alumni. Access to both Tech’s talent pool and its specialized facilities is crucial to the company, said Adam Hellmers, Radiance’s assistant vice president for advanced cybertechnologies.
“We’ve gotten a huge technical advantage from being located directly on campus,” Hellmers said. “It gives us access to a top tier university, lets us train personnel while they’re in school to do niche things we do for the warfighter. It’s a tremendous advantage to be located in such close proximity to our research partners.”
Part of the partnership between Radiance and Tech includes a plan to draw in a significant amount of federal R&D funding in the near future.
The third floor was designed with Radiance’s more sensitive projects with the Department of Defense in mind, featuring high-security labs and conference rooms gated off from the rest of the facility.
But there are also two conference rooms that look out into the campus below and will be open for booking for anyone at Tech, complete with elevators that keep foot traffic separated from Radiance’s space.
Crossmark and LA New Product Development Team (LA NPDT) split the ground floor.
Crossmark is a Ruston-based business consulting company that serves some 220 companies in 26 states.
Currently on South Vienna Street, Crossmark will soon move its 48 employees to Tech Pointe II.
Co-owner Jack Rome, Jr. said Crossmark has had several relationships with Tech over the years.
“We’re a little bit of an incubator for some of the companies coming out of Tech,” Rome said. “We’ve also employed 68 Tech students to date, including 15 currently. We’re very, very dependent on the work they do.”
He said the proximity to campus will be beneficial for the company and its student employees alike.
“They’re very excited about (the move),” Rome said. “They can literally park somewhere (on campus) and walk to work.”
Co-owner Norman Hanes said Tech Pointe II offers the company room for further growth.
“We’re maxed out where we are now,” Hanes said. “We’re actually moving into less square footage, but there’s no wasted space. So we’re actually going to be able to go out and grow.”
LA NPDT, meanwhile, is rooted in Tech as much as anyone.
This full-service product development firm began as a club founded by two Tech students from Kazakhstan, Konstantin Dolgan and Onega Ulanova. Two years later the group bloomed into a business.
By leasing at Tech Pointe II, LA NPDT not only gains access to students and graduates who fit their expertise, but also access to potential clients through the incubator functions on Tech’s Enterprise Campus.
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