2 min read August 2023 — President of Research Park at Florida Atlantic University, Andrew Duffell, sat down with Invest: to discuss Palm Beach County’s value proposition to the science and research development industry, plans looking ahead and how local business and education leaders are prioritizing maintaining and strengthening the talent pipeline.
What highlights and milestones have defined Research Park at FAU over the last 12 months?
In mid-2022, a majority (7 out of 12) of the buildings in Research Park were purchased by a joint venture, local development group (PEBB Enterprises & Banyan Development). That opened the doors to all sorts of new opportunities that have been fantastic. It has really changed the tone and outlook of the entire Research Park. The new JV has invested capital investment to upgrade the look and feel of the property and to execute new lease deals. We have come a long way in absorbing our vacancy. We have about 20% of our space left to fill, so we are looking to get the remainder of that leased to amazing companies that add value to the FAU community.
How have you witnessed Palm Beach County’s business community change in the past year?
It seems like everyone is extremely busy. Florida used to be quieter, at least at certain points of the year, as people traveled back home for the warmer months in other states. This is not the case anymore. We are busy year-round. Since the middle of COVID, there has been one-way traffic into the entire state. There is more activity, investment, employment and interest in all of South Florida. We are nonstop in new inquiries, running down new leads and welcoming new tenants and discussing new collaborations with innovative companies around the world. This has been felt throughout the county – more people, more activity and more business.
What makes Palm Beach County a great place for science, research and development?
There are multiple prongs to this. The population we have here in South Florida is key. We are completely diverse. No one group of anything or anyone dominates the demography of this region. That lends itself to research. Anyone doing any kind of research, be it sociological or clinical, wants and needs to be in South Florida in order to get a substantial cross-section of the world’s profile. That makes us very attractive. More specifically and relevant to the Research Park, we have so many companies involved in the healthcare space, from early life sciences to the delivery of healthcare, that need to be here for that reason. When new drugs and therapies are developed, they must be discussed with and obtain clinical data from people from all walks of life. From Palm Beach County, it is easy to expand to the Caribbean, Latin America and Europe. This and the normal attributes of the state, such as no income tax and a favorable regulatory environment, make South Florida the place to be for our industry.
What is the current state of the talent pipeline in Palm Beach County?
The talent pipeline is very strong. The problem is that it is not big enough. We have so many companies hiring so many people – we need more people in training all the time. Palm Beach County Public Schools are great at recruiting and training young minds. We have collectively made strong strides in improving all sectors of society. Personally, I am involved in the Children’s Home Society of Florida and its Community Partnership Schools. There are now dozens of these tremendous assets across the state of Florida that enable children and their families to use the school as a central hub of resources. If they need help getting access to Wi-Fi, dental work done or even clothing, they can go to the Community Partnership School. We are implementing two of these Community Partnership Schools in Palm Beach County, which will be important additions to our communities.
We are starting with JFK Middle School and Lake Worth High School to develop this model. This has been proven through over 10 years of data. It’s important that individuals moving here know we have great schools, but it’s also important for those looking to move their company here, as well. Our state college and FAU are increasingly recognized for the depth of their expertise, research and teaching quality. The College of Business was recently ranked No. 1 in the state and No. 2 in the entire United States for its executive education by the Financial Times, which is just phenomenal.
What are some of the more interesting innovations coming out of the county?
Where to start? I am biased, but the amazing research and commercialization coming out of Florida Atlantic University is on par with anything you would see from big name institutions. We have technologies that are perfecting brain surgery, for example. FAU researchers are perfecting the way in which deep brain stimulation is done for Parkinson’s patients in order to minimize their tremors and speech symptoms, for example. Recently, to further explore the feasibility of miRNAs as biomarkers for cancer classification and improving clinical classification applications, researchers from Florida Atlantic University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science created a multiclass cancer diagnostic model using miRNA expression profiles. Their methodology utilized an iterative process that applied several key techniques to a continually increasing dataset of miRNA expression quantification data. From the Research Park itself, you’ll soon see companies focused on mental health as well as surgical instruments announced.
What are your priorities looking ahead?
I saw a statistic recently where the Supervisor of Elections said we have one million registered voters in Palm Beach County, so there are about 1.5 million people living here today. In a few years, I could see that going up to two million people. This brings its challenges, as well. We want travel between cities to be more feasible so that Palm Beach County continues to be a fantastic place to grow a company and family. We want to make sure our air conditioning infrastructure holds up, too, because it’s mighty hot this summer! We will see continued growth from the Northeast, as well as from Miami-Dade and Latin America. As Miami fills up and overflows, people are realizing they can do business and live in South Florida without having to deal with living amongst the congestion. In terms of priorities, the Research Park will continue to focus on bringing the greatest entrepreneurial minds to Palm Beach County to collaborate with the amazing researchers at Florida Atlantic to spur new commercialization opportunities, product launches and employment opportunities for our graduates and residents.
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