A collaborative vision

Wiregrass Innovation Center opens in downtown Dothan

It’s been less than four years since the city of Dothan and HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology entered a partnership focused on agricultural research, collaboration and economic development.

That partnership led to the creation of the institute’s second location, HudsonAlpha Wiregrass, which now has a home at the new Wiregrass Innovation Center in downtown Dothan.

The 45,000-square-foot Wiregrass Innovation Center held its grand opening in May with local, regional and state dignitaries in attendance, including Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and state Speaker of the House Nathaniel Ledbetter.

When the Huntsville-based HudsonAlpha chose the Wiregrass for a second location, the institute was looking for a place to focus on agricultural research, especially peanuts. With its rich agricultural heritage and natural resources, the Wiregrass provided that opportunity for innovation, says Neil Lamb, Ph.D., president of HudsonAlpha.

“HudsonAlpha is founded around the idea of using collaboration to truly make a difference and bringing together amazing scientists, entrepreneurs with ideas, educators and a community with a can-do spirit and mixing all that together to get something truly transformational on the other end,” Lamb says.

Funding for the innovation center was a collaborative effort that went beyond the initial public-private partnership between Dothan and HudsonAlpha. The state of Alabama put $20 million toward the project, the nonprofit Wiregrass Foundation allocated $10 million and Innovate Alabama provided $375,000.

HudsonAlpha Wiregrass is the anchor tenant of the Wiregrass Innovation Center. Other tenants include the economic development group Grow Southeast Alabama, venture firm and startup accelerator Gener8tor, Advantage Consulting and Solutions, agricultural company Sentinel Ag, biotech companies Khaya Biosciences and SetaTech and Troy University.

HudsonAlpha Wiregrass applies genomic research to agriculture, specifically to create new food plant varieties with higher yields and increased resistance to pests, disease and drought. But the local purpose also includes economic development by supporting new agricultural and technology companies as well as education, with students actively involved in peanut research.

Lamb says the goal has always been to partner with the farming community and help develop plants and technologies that increase farmers’ ability to make a living. Lamb says he hopes the Wiregrass Innovation Center shows local residents that what may seem like abstract ideas are actually possible. He thinks residents will find new opportunities and jobs that previously were only available in much larger cities. He says the center can serve as a draw for those looking for a place to innovate and bring their ideas to reality.

“I think vision is being able to make what is currently invisible become seen,” Lamb says. “This building is the concrete representation of what we hope happens here, what we believe will happen here not only throughout the Wiregrass, but through the city and people who say, ‘I want to live in the Wiregrass and I have this great idea and here’s a place I can come.’”

Along with state-of-the-art research labs, the innovation center is also home to the Alabama Forestry Accelerator, providing mentorship as well as potential investors to encourage innovation in the forestry industry. The innovation center also features an education lab, an economic development lab, the GROW Lab for entrepreneurs, office spaces, multipurpose community rooms and a rooftop greenhouse.

The innovation center is located on the Carver Research Campus, named for agriculture scientist and inventor George Washington Carver. Outside the entrance to the four-story building are a series of mirrored panels — the first panel represents DNA, the second stands for a community of diverse innovators and the third symbolizes the globe, a reminder of a shared planet and the influence the Wiregrass can make on it.

But the innovation center is more than a home for HudsonAlpha Wiregrass, it is a cornerstone in the Dothan City Center project — a revitalization that has changed the look of downtown with an outdoor amphitheater, a splash pad, an addition to the Dothan Opera House that faces Main Street and a new entrance for Porter Park that includes outdoor table seating, music piped through outdoor speakers and bathroom facilities. A new city hall is currently under construction as well.

During the May event, Dothan Mayor Mark Saliba said the opening of the Wiregrass Innovation Center was a “dream come true” for him as a public servant and described the moment as a bold beginning he believes will truly make a difference in the Wiregrass and the world.

“With the opening of the Wiregrass Innovation Center here on the Carver Research Campus, we are stepping out into the future, and we are not just observers,” Saliba told the crowd gathered for a ribbon cutting. “We are participants. We are contributors. We are leaders. In the years ahead, this building will be filled with researchers, educators, entrepreneurs and students. It will be alive with innovation, collaboration and discovery. It will be a place where ideas are born and where solutions to real-world challenges begin to take shape.”

Visit wiregrassinnovation.org to learn more about the Wiregrass Innovation Center.