Germantown incubator gets $250k in state funds

The money will be matched through a state grant, the Germantown Life Sciences Incubator Loan of 2005, one of the project’s primary funding sources.

‘‘The Life Sciences Incubator will serve as a catalyst for the continued development of biotechnology along the I-270 Technology Corridor,” state Sen. Robert J. Garagiola (D-Dist. 15) of Germantown, a sponsor of the bond bill, said in a joint statement with Sen. Nancy J. King (D-Dist. 39) of Montgomery Village. ‘‘It is central to maintaining Montgomery County’s preeminence in bioscience.”

The incubator will be located on the second floor of the 67,000-square-foot Goldenrod Building, which the county will lease from the adjacent Montgomery College under a lease-purchase agreement for the entire facility. The first floor is undergoing a separate renovation and will be used by the college for classroom space.

The facility, the county’s fifth business incubator, will accommodate 20 to 30 life sciences and advanced technology businesses and include 11 wet labs, two modular clean rooms and 45 offices. It is also part of the proposed Germantown Business and Technology Park, which will be situated on and around Montgomery College’s Germantown campus. The project will also include the Bioscience Education Center and the Life Sciences and Technology Park.

Sens. Garagiola and King are also seeking $2.9 million from the state for the Bioscience Education Center and have introduced a bond bill for up to $1 million in matching funds for the facility, according to the statement.