[media-credit name=’JEFF SCHORFHEIDE/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]Badger entrepreneurs will have a new home in 2009 when a second University of Wisconsin research park is set to open on Madison’s east side.

The new research park will occupy 6,000 square feet in the old Marquip Buildling, 1245 East Washington Ave., and the facility will offer space for engineering and information technology-based start-up companies.

“We have direct linkage to the university throughout fiber optics and UW library kiosks at the park, which allow our tenants to be able to access library resources directly,” said Mark Bugher, research park director. “We have a whole array of infrastructure including conference rooms, labs, coffee machines, fax machines and all that kind of stuff that companies need to operate.”

Former Chancellor John Wiley, who attended the inaugural ceremony, said with the increased interest in entrepreneurship at UW in the last 10 years, he expects an “absolute explosion” of student and faculty companies at the new research park.

Wiley met with Mayor Dave Cieslewicz several times before the announcement. Cieslewicz said he also expects the new research park to improve economic development in Madison’s near east side.

“This is one of the best things that happened in the city of Madison in my time,” Cieslewicz said.

The office of corporate relations, a wing of the chancellor’s office, offers starting companies assistance with finding grants and sponsorships and the research park provides referral services for accounting, communications and legal services.

When patentable technology is developed, entrepreneurs are referred to the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation for assistance with protecting their research, Bugher said.

The current urban research park, located west of the UW campus, houses between 3,500 and 4,000 employees divided in 115 companies focused on life sciences and technology transfer.

All companies are affiliated with UW and were started by faculty and developed with student support from several UW departments. One such company, Roche NimbleGen, started at the research park and was recently acquired by Roche for $274 million.

Office space rentals normally run between $1,000 and $2,000 per month, depending on the size of the lab. The new research park on East Washington Avenue will be available for move-in starting January 2009.