Missouri Research Park Executive Director Presented Career Achievement Award
September 30, 2004

St. Louis, MO – Rick Finholt, executive director of the University of Missouri’s Missouri Research Park, today was presented the prestigious “Career Achievement Award” by the Association of University Research Parks (AURP) at the group’s annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas.

The AURP Career Achievement Award honors individuals who have made research and science parks a career focus, achieved success with parks over a substantial period of time and received peer recognition for advancing the field. Other recipients of the lifetime achievement award include James O. Roberson of Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, Wayne McGown of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Research Park and Dr. Mark Money of Texas A & M University.

Finholt, 60, has been instrumental in the development of the Missouri Research Park in St. Charles County and a four-mile ‘technology corridor’ along Highway 64/40 near the campus. He was hired by the University of Missouri in 1989 to develop 750 acres of pastureland just outside of St. Louis in St. Charles County into a research park. Under Finholt’s leadership, the Missouri Research Park has become home to 15 high-tech companies and two Federal agencies, housed in 1.2 million square feet of space and employing 2,000 people.

The Missouri Research Park has served as a magnet for high-tech development in the region, stimulating developments such as WingHaven, MasterCard International and Citibank which have generated an additional 10,000 high-tech jobs in the corridor.

“The Missouri Research Park has been a catalyst for development of a major high-tech corridor here in St. Charles County,” said Greg Prestemon, president and executive director of the Economic Development Center of St. Charles County. “Rick was a leader in encouraging local municipalities and the county to zone this corridor as high-tech.” Finholt received the county’s first “Excellence in St. Charles Award” in 1998 for his vision in developing the research park and promoting the concept of a high-tech corridor in St. Charles County.

Since 1998, Finholt also has led the development of the 62-acre University of Missouri Technology Park at Fort Leonard Wood, the first technology park in the nation to be located on an active Army post. The MRP Business Center in the Park is fully leased, and a second building is under construction.

Prior to joining the University of Missouri in 1989, Finholt was director of the research park at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Prior to that, he directed the Ohio State University Research Park and the Business Technology Center technology incubator. He has authored numerous studies, articles, grant proposals and business plans in the field of university-related research parks.

A former faculty member at Ohio State University, Finholt says his understanding of the university culture and environment has been key to his career success. Finholt views the university environment as a “community of scholars” organized from the bottom up rather than the conventional top-down business model. He says his initial challenge was to sell the research park concept to a variety of faculty members before selling it to the development and investment communities.

“The Missouri Research Park is one of the best models of a public/private development ever to occur in St. Louis,” said Denny Coleman, president and CEO of the St. Louis Economic Council. “Our organization has capitalized on Rick’s expertise and best practices.”

AURP represents more than 120 university research parks in the United States. The parks stimulate the creation and growth of new scientific and high technology businesses. The primary membership of the Association of University Research Parks consists of planned and operating research parks around the world. A variety of university, governmental, not-for-profit and private organizations interested in the development and operation of technology projects and programs, comprise the balance of AURP membership.

The Missouri Research Park is the first business park in the St. Louis region to market exclusively to technology-intensive and research-based companies. The Missouri Research Park is a project of the University of Missouri Office of Economic Development and Research Parks, whose mission is to support Missouri’s economic growth by developing and sustaining research and technology alliances among the University, government agencies and private companies. For more information, call (636) 441-7701 or visit the Missouri Research Park web site at um-mrp.org.