Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter on June 24 helped launch The Core, a health care, education and technology enterprise zone in Meridian.

The governor was joined by Meridian Mayor Tammy de Weerd and health care and technology partners from Idaho State University and dozens of private businesses that operate within an approximately three-mile-long corridor straddling Interstate 84.

"The powerful spirit of partnership is what brings us here today, and it's what will ensure Meridian and all of Idaho grows and prospers in the future," Otter said.

The launch took place at a former information-technology manufacturing facility that has been converted into a university campus, magnet high school and administrative center for Meridian School District.

ISU President Arthur Vailas said ISU research today generates $31 million per year in new money to the Idaho economy from federal, state and business sources. He said that activity is just the beginning of the economic upsurge that will transform the Idaho economy if the state can replicate the experience he helped develop in a similar corridor in Houston.

Idaho government data show that the health care industry will be Idaho's greatest job creator of the next generation, according to a press release. Health care will be Idaho's fastest-growing, largest and highest-paying industry between now and 2016, with nursing and pharmacy standing out as the hottest occupations of all.

Technology firms already at work in and around The Core include Bodybuilding.com, a provider of health and nutrition products to athletes; MWI Veterinary Supply, a national supplier of animal health products to veterinarians; Silverdraft Studios; Crucial/ Lexar Media, a global provider of memory products, and other growing enterprises.

"Early in this decade, a new vision emerged in Meridian. This vision was clear - Meridian would become a community where not only is the living good but a community where you can make a good living," De Weerd said. "This has led us to strive for economic excellence and to create jobs - thousands of them. We are doing just that and transforming our city."

Credit: IBR Staff

(Copyright 2009 Dolan Media Newswires)

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