‘This is a beacon. It’s going to attract a lot of attention.’
This story was originally published in Rhode Island Current, a publication partner of Ocean State Stories.
PROVIDENCE — Creating space for startup companies to research and test drugs, chemicals and other biological material was a key reason why lawmakers and industry leaders wanted a dedicated Rhode Island life science agency.
More than a year after its creation, the Rhode Island Life Science Hub is nearly ready to act on plans for a commercial wet lab incubator. Nearly, but not quite.
The hub’s 15-member board of directors met briefly behind closed doors Tuesday, with the original intent of awarding a bid to a company to build and operate a commercial wet and dry lab space and incubator.
But the vote never happened. Chairman Neil Steinberg explained after the executive session that negotiations were ongoing.
“It just takes longer,” Steinberg said in an interview Tuesday afternoon. “We’re still dealing with vendors, trying to get the most cost-effective deal we can, with the best terms.”
The quasi-public state agency, created as part of the fiscal 2024 budget, issued a competitive solicitation in April seeking a qualified firm to build out and run a lab and incubator space within an existing state building — the location was up to the bidders’ choosing, though the solicitation suggested the spot “contribute to the state’s growing life science cluster in Providence.”
A new state health lab is under construction in the Interstate 195 Redevelopment District, alongside the nearby Wexford Science & Technology Building. Both projects include reserved lab space.
The space envisioned by the Life Science Hub, however, would target entrepreneurs and startup companies.
“If there’s a couple entrepreneurs starting a life science company, we don’t have commercial lab space available,” Steinberg said. “They have to go somewhere else. We need this so we can attract companies and retain them.”
Three firms submitted proposals in response to the April solicitation; the submissions have been reviewed with an unnamed number of finalists chosen — “less than three,” was all Steinberg would say.
He was not worried by the lack of competition. But, he acknowledged, there’s a lot riding on the decision, which will be the most impactful choice the fledgling agency makes since it began meeting in January.
“This is a beacon,” he said of the prospective incubator lab. “It’s going to attract a lot of attention.”
It’s also not cheap. A tentative programming budget laid out by Hub President Patrice Milos Tuesday allotted $10 million to $13 million for the incubator — nearly 25% of the agency’s $45 million, three-year budget.
The cost will be firmed up once the deal is settled, a prospect Steinberg hoped would happen by the agency’s September meeting.
Also on Tuesday, the hub’s board unanimously approved a $2.1 million fiscal 2025 operating budget. The spending plan allots nearly $579,000 to salaries and benefits, including for the yet-to-be-hired CEO. Milos, who was hired as interim president in June, is being paid out of a separate, $341,500 budget line for consultants. Her initial contract covers three months, at $25,000 a month, as the search continues for a permanent, paid leader.
(The 15-member board serves on a volunteer basis).
Phillip Duffy, a principal with hired search firm Korn Ferry, told board members Tuesday that final candidates will be presented for interviews in September, with the goal of naming a permanent president by November. The board’s choice must also be confirmed by the Rhode Island Senate, which is on recess until January.
The agency anticipates spending $6 million over three years on operating costs, leaving $39 million available for special programming, including direct grants to industry startups and partners, incubator space, and workforce development, according to an informal framework presented Tuesday.
