STAR Park Brings New Business to San Marcos

By Matthew Alvarez

The STAR Park Forum was an introduction to the new 38-archered research facility known as STAR One. The 20-thousand-sqaure-foot-park is intended for startup—or early staged—companies that need to conduct research and develop new products going into the market. Along with investing companies, graduate students will get the hands-on experience in conducting research within STAR One. State Senator of the 25th district, Donna Campbell, described STAR Park as mixing research with industry.

“This program is mixing business technology within a university.”

Not a research and development section inside a business headquarters; its research and industry leveraging the best of applied research to business industry.
– Donna Campbell

In attendance of the forum, President of Texas State University, Dr. Denise Trauth, said that while the opening of STAR One is the beginning of taking Texas State to the institutional research level of other universities, it is only the first phase of the overall project.

“We very much need a building here, on our San Marcos campus, so we can expand that program, have more students and in general expand engineering. So, that’s the first big hurdle. We had hoped to get funding for a building this past legislative session, but it didn’t happen. But that is what is at the top of the list.”

Representative of the 21st Congressional District, Lamar Smith, currently serves as the Chairman of the Science, Space and Technology Committee. He was also the keynote speaker for the forum. Congressman Smith says the continued growth for Texas State in the research field is the start of a technological future.

“We’re watching the launch of the new era for Central Texas because STAR Park, in conjunction with Texas [State] University, is going to take off. They’re going to attract incubator companies, they’re going to try and attract high-tech companies, they’re going to create jobs and they’re going to help the area economy.”

This is the beginning of great things for San Marcos.
– Lamar Smith

Congressman Smith says that with the development of STAR Park, students are able to apply their education in science, technology, engineering, and math—subjects where there is a shortage of American students studying in and a field where there is a high demand for jobs.

Matt Alvarez, KTSW News.