SRSCRO supports a comprehensive economic development plan that leverages the existing capabilities, talents and resources of the Savannah River Site and the Central Savannah River Area for new job creation and economic growth.

Our plan is technology-based and builds on the region's strengths in biotechnology, hydrogen, homeland security and nuclear energy.

Here is a summary of SRSCRO’s economic development strategy:


I. Life Sciences
SRSCRO has made significant inroads in new job creation through its support of innovative technology projects such as the Augusta Bio-Business Center and the MCG Life Sciences Business Development Center, two incubators for Biotech, Biomedical Device and Medical Software companies. Community leaders have identified the Life Sciences industry as a vital source of jobs and economic benefit to the region.

The MCG Incubator is designed to move research from the lab into the marketplace and features five lab-office suites equipped with basic scientific equipment so entrepreneurs and their teams can begin working in days. Moreover, the region is home to more than 25,000 healthcare professionals, an expanding biotech base that includes Pfizer, Monsanto, Nutrasweet and others, ten major hospitals, including the Eisenhower Army Medical Center, two VA medical centers and the Medical College of Georgia.

The Medical College of Georgia has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Savannah River Site to encourage interaction among scientists with the two entities. SRSCRO has joined with the region's medical community and economic development entities to foster the creation and growth of biotech companies in the area. Various plans for a biomedical R&D corridor, a research park and an industrial park are being considered.


II. The Hydrogen Economy
With SRSCRO support, the five-county region is working together to take advantage of local hydrogen-related assets which can be leveraged to create new economic activity.

These assets include: (1) Savannah River National Laboratory's 50 years of experience in hydrogen handling and storage, (2) Aiken County's Center for Hydrogen Research user facility, and (3) Large-scale production of hydrogen for fertilizer production.

Local leaders are working to recruit new industry and research organizations to partner with local capabilities and to establish new R&D, manufacturing and service business activity.


III. Homeland Security
The SRSCRO region is also focused on establishing and operating a state-of-the-art training, exercise and evaluation center to enhance state and local capabilities to prevent and respond to terrorist activity and to sustain a high level of Weapons of Mass Destruction preparedness.

The principal objective of the Center is to provide advanced skills training as well as objective evaluation in a realistic, instrumented environment that replicates actual response conditions and critical infrastructure.

The training approach will exploit current technologies including simulation modeling, instrumented scenarios, enhanced scene conditions, interactive opposing forces and automated after action reviews and evaluations.


IV. Energy Park
In its planning for economic growth, SRSCRO has also recognized that the Savannah River Site has many unique assets which can be leveraged for regional economic development without impacting the Site's ability to meet important Federal missions.

One of the most exciting concepts for economic growth involves creation of a new Energy Park on the Savannah River Site. The Park would include innovative technological demonstration projects designed to push the frontiers of knowledge, create new jobs, and solidify the region's long-term position as a leader in new technology development.

Among the projects envisioned for the Energy Park are a demonstration of next generation nuclear power reactors, including nuclear powered thermo-chemical production of hydrogen, construction of a research and training reactor and increased electric power production from nuclear reactors.

SRS should be promoted as the preferred Federal site for these activities. The Contractor and SRS should play a central role in developing collaborative partnering approaches and assisting with establishment and administration of an international private/public consortium to design, build and operate an advanced nuclear reactor in a new SRS Energy Park.

The Energy Park would capitalize on the substantial and unique assets afforded by the Savannah River Site, including a large land mass remote from the population, fixed site boundaries with little possibility of encroachment, a well-characterized land mass meeting most siting requirements and excellent infrastructure -- roads, rail, water and power. The Site's assets as an Energy Park are further enhanced by the ready availability of technical expertise and services and its proximity to large and growing energy markets.