Memphis Bioworks™ Foundation To Chosen as the Tennessee Recipient of the 2007 Innovator Award

MEMPHIS, Tennessee, March 23, 2007 – The Memphis Bioworks Foundation has been selected as the Tennessee recipient of the 2007 Innovator Award, which is given each year by the Southern Growth Policies Board, headquartered in Triangle Park, North Carolina.

Southern Growth Policies Board is a non-partisan think tank made up of 13 member states – Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, as well as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

This year’s awards ceremony will by held during the annual Southern Workforce Summit, June 3, 2007, in St. Louis, Missouri.

Innovator Awards are presented annually to one organization in each state in honor of initiatives that are improving the quality of life in the South. The 2007 winners were chosen based on programs that address workforce development challenges in the region. Other important criteria included the uniqueness of the program and its success.

Workforce development is a key initiative in the Memphis Bioworks Foundation’s mission to establish the region as an internationally recognized center for the development and commercialization of biomedical technology. The Foundation is facilitating and partnering with local schools, colleges and universities to launch educational programs and outreach initiatives to ensure education and industry are in synch for the job skills and demands of tomorrow.

The Foundation is honored to be the organization in Tennessee to receive the Innovator Award,” said Dr. Steven J. Bares, Executive Director and President of the Memphis Bioworks Foundation. “It is an acknowledgement of how our unique model of bioscience development is successfully working to improve the economy and increase jobs in Memphis and the region.”

The Memphis Bioworks Foundation, a not-for-profit organization, was formed in early 2001 to establish the Memphis region as an internationally recognized center for biomedical technology through education, infrastructure, workforce development, research and commercialization. The focal point of the city’s biomedical economic development will be the UT-Baptist Research Park, featuring 1.4 million square feet of lab, research, education and business development space on ten acres in the heart of the Memphis Medical Center.

Visit www.memphisbioworks.org to learn more about the Memphis Bioworks Foundation.