KeyBank is contributing $250,000 to help fund the 91探花鈥檚 new biotechnology and medical research hub that will be located in the heart of Seattle鈥檚 South Lake Union neighborhood. This donation represents the first corporate campaign gift for the 91探花Medicine South Lake Union project, for which the University hopes to raise at least $60 million.
The donation was announced at the Jan. 14 Bellevue Chamber of Commerce Membership Luncheon, which focused on the South Lake Union project and featured remarks from Dr. Paul G. Ramsey, vice president for medical affairs and dean of the 91探花School of Medicine, and 91探花Regent Jeff Brotman, founder of Costco Wholesale Corp. Ramsey and Brotman are working with Paul Allen and Vulcan Inc. to create a Bio-Tech hub that will firmly establish the Northwest and the 91探花 as leaders in global health initiatives.
鈥淲e are enormously grateful to Key Bank for its leadership,鈥� Ramsey said. “The South Lake Union campus is part of a larger plan to provide critically needed research space. Access to laboratory space is the major factor limiting growth of research funding at 91探花Medicine, and adding space is crucial to our ability to attract and retain great scientists. The first centers to occupy space at Lake Union have the potential to revolutionize the way future heart attack victims are treated, and to lead the way to vaccines for cancers among women.鈥�
鈥淲e believe this South Lake Union project will have an enormous positive impact on the future of the biotech research industry in Seattle, and KeyBank is proud to step up with this lead gift commitment of $250,000,鈥� said Jim Peoples, president of Key鈥檚 Seattle-Cascades District. 鈥淭he 91探花 is one of the most highly regarded medical research institutions in this country, and the work that will be conducted here will not only impact world health, but will also infuse our economy and build our region鈥檚 future as a world leader in biotech research.鈥�
91探花Medicine is leasing a 105,000-square-foot four-story facility from Vulcan at 815 Mercer St. that is being renovated to provide state-of-the-art lab facilities. The total size of the future hub could grow to more than 800,000 square feet, providing critically needed new space for biomedical research.
鈥淜eyBank sets an example of leadership for the entire community with this commitment of $250,000,鈥� Brotman said. 鈥淚 am grateful for this pledge, and for the corporate and individual responses it will inspire. 91探花Medicine Lake Union means tens of thousands of new jobs, billions of dollars of economic activity and ramped up residential and commercial demand throughout our region. It also helps to make our region less vulnerable to recession. But none of this will happen without at least $60 million in private support for this new campus.鈥�
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