(Nashville, Tennessee) – November 26, 2002
Tony Grande, state commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development (ECD), today announced that funding has been approved for a $100,000 Tennessee Industrial Infrastructure Program (TIIP) grant in support of Cumberland Emerging Technologies (CET).
CET is a joint initiative between the Tennessee Technology Development Corp. (TTDC), Vanderbilt University and Cumberland Pharmaceuticals Inc. The mission of CET is to bring biomedical technologies and products conceived at Tennessee research centers to the commercial marketplace.
“We are very pleased to support this innovative partnership. We want the world to know that ‘Tennessee Means Technology’, as we step up our efforts to grow and attract the New Economy jobs of the future,” Grande said. “Nothing will be more important to the future of our great state over the next 20 years than our science and technology assets and the new higher-paying jobs and new business success stories they help create.”
The grant will be used to assist with wet lab infrastructure at CET’s new life sciences incubator facility. In July, CET signed a lease accessing up to 20,000 square feet in Gateway Pavilion, adjacent to the Union Station Hotel in downtown Nashville, for this laboratory facility. For more information on CET, please visit www.cet-fund.com.
“With the support of the state, CET combines the strength of our partners in TTDC and Vanderbilt to provide universities, hospitals and other research organizations with needed commercial development infrastructure and access to federal funding for innovation and technology transfer,” said A.J. Kazimi, CEO of Cumberland Pharmaceuticals Inc.
“The CET grant is a great example of how we as a state are getting aggressive and looking for new ways to dedicate resources to technology and biotech development in Tennessee, in order to grow the jobs of tomorrow and remain competitive in the life science sector,” Grande added.
The Tennessee Industrial Infrastructure Program (TIIP) was authorized by the Tennessee General Assembly in 1988. The program is administered by ECD. TIIP funds are to be used for infrastructure improvements or for job-specific workforce training for Tennessee industry. For more information on the program, please visit the ECD website at www.soundsgood.org.