Penn, Phila. honor area's high-tech 'Market'

Market Street was christened the city's 'Avenue of Technology.' Hubert Schoemaker founded his health care research company, Centocor, Inc., in 1979 at the University City Science Center. Almost 20 years later, Centocor -- which develops and commercializes therapeutic products for serious illnesses -- is now worth about $20 billion. By proclaiming all of Market Street west of 30th Street the "Avenue of Technology," city officials hope other firms will be able to duplicate that success in the coming years. In a ceremony yesterday which included top city officials and University administrators, Mayor Ed Rendell officially proclaimed the street the city's Avenue of Technology to highlight the accomplishments of the more than 200 high-technology businesses -- with more than 7,000 employees among them -- located in the area. The new name is mainly a ceremonial gesture by the city and will serve mainly to promote the area. But Rendell said he intends to back his words with actions. "We want to do more than just proclaim it Technology Avenue and Technology Day," Rendell said. "We truly have the opportunity here to develop a technological center" of the city. The Avenue initiative was spearheaded by several area institutions, including the UCSC, Penn, Drexel University, the University City District and the Institute for Scientific Information, who are all stakeholders in the project. Frank Principati, vice president of ISI -- an international database publishing company -- outlined several goals for the Avenue, including hiring Philadelphia college graduates for University City technology and management jobs, putting up a World Wide Web site to advertise the 200 institutions currently located on Market Street and continuing to make technological advances. Referring to a Drexel billboard which welcomes drivers to "the Cyberzone," Drexel President Constantine Papadakis said Philadelphia is rapidly emerging as a center for new technologies. University President Judith Rodin and Executive Vice President John Fry both attended the event. "The creation [of the Avenue] is really a statement that Philadelphia recognizes the importance of these institutions," Rodin said. Louis Berneman, Penn's managing director for the Center for Technology Transfer, spoke of the importance of technology as a driving force in a knowledge-based economy. "Great universities must do more than create, store and transmit knowledge," Berneman said. "They must apply [the knowledge]." Rendell also said he is proposing to include the UCSC in the state's "keystone zones," a designation which would exempt it from state and city taxes. The City Council and state legislature must approve that move before it can go into effect. Rendell added that the city may possibly make a donation to the Science Center's venture fund to finance entrepreneurs. Both the donation and the tax break would serve as powerful incentives to attract cutting-edge businesses to the area. The UCSC is a not-for-profit corporation that has helped give 300 companies a start since its inception in 1963. The 35-year-old organization is owned by 29 academic and scientific institutions and has managed over $100 million of research programs to generate new technologies and scientific techniques.