Former Air Base Flying High as Technology Center
The loss of a military installation can be a deathblow to a local economy, but 10 years’ worth of planning by South Plains area leaders has seen the former Reese Air Force Base become a hotbed for technology.
Renamed the Reese Technology Center, the former military installation is now a place where researchers from the academic and private sectors work on an array of products and technologies for military and civilian uses.
It took a lot of planning and effort for the technology center to take off, says Todd Reno, Reese’s director of business development. “We found out in 1995 that we were on the closure list, and it closed on Sept. 30, 1997,” he says. “At that time, the Lubbock Reese Redevelopment Committee was formed by area businesspeople, so they proactively planned for the site’s future. They hit the ground running, obviously, and got busy with the transfer of the property and going about the groundwater remediation and other work it would need.”
Deeds were signed by September 2006 when what is now the Lubbock Reese Redevelopment Authority formally took over the site. The 2,500-acre property includes buildings with about 1.4 million square feet of usable space.
In 1999, Reese became home to training facilities for Texas Tech University and South Plains College. About 4,200 students now receive training at Reese in areas as diverse as plumbing and environmental science.
The academic tenants make up a strong core among the center’s four areas of specialization, Reno says. “We’re focusing on biotechnology, biosciences, food technology and workforce training. Our tenants are working on Department of Defense research, supercomputers, wind research, vehicle applications – a lot of high-tech things.”
The technology being developed has, and will have, wide-reaching applications.
A PRODUCT OF NOTE
One development getting considerable attention comes from researchers at Texas Tech’s Institute of Environmental and Human Health, who have created a composite, nonwoven cotton fabric to protect against chemical agents. The fabric can be used as a non-particulate dry wipe to clean up, for example, a soldier’s body or a military aircraft. “This technology has significant benefits over the current particulate M291 decontamination kit,” says Dr. Seshadri Ramkumar, assistant professor at the institute.
“We are doing some cutting-edge research here that is very important for national defense,” Ramkumar says. “We are the first and only academic facility to have this type of technology, and our research and development here at Reese is really booming.”
He adds that a side benefit of the institute’s high profile at Reese Technology Center is that he’s able to draw students from around the world. “Texas Tech is now recognized internationally,” he says. “I think this is going to be one of the premier research parks in the world.”
BRINGING BACK JOBS
That kind of ringing endorsement is music to Reno’s ears and can only benefit Reese’s developers as they act to secure more tenants.
“We’re trying to find people who are a good fit here, so our marketing is very specific,” he says. “We do a lot of reading, find out what kind of research is going on, or hear about someone having problems with their research and then see if we can bring them here. We think companies or institutes can come here on their own or work in partnership with our tenants.”
The area’s business community seems pleased with the early successes, Reno adds. “Some of these people have been around 10-plus years and have seen the whole thing develop. There are not a lot of closed military bases ending up like this; most close and stay closed. We have no debt, we’re self supporting and so far we’ve brought back 700 of the 1,200 civilian jobs the base had when it was operational. This really is something the whole area can be proud of.”
