For the fourth time in a decade, the University of Arizona has completed an impact analysis of the Science and Technology Park, and, for the fourth time, the park's contribution to the Tucson economy and tax base has increased.

A few days earlier IBM had issued its own report reflecting its impact as Tucson's second largest technology employer

The university's Office of Economic and Policy Analysis report issued April 19 recorded increases in jobs, wages, revenue generated and taxes paid by the tenants at the facility, which was purchased in 1995 from IBM. The 1,345-acre site is located on Tucson's southeast side along the north side of Interstate 10 between Kolb and Rita roads.

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By the numbers, the park's status report as of the end of 2004:

• 31 tenants occupied some of the 2 million square-feet of developed space.

• 6,226 jobs. Another 7,079 indirect jobs in the Tucson area are here because of the park.

• $631.6 million in wages.

• $1.92 billion in direct and indirect revenue.

• $43.7 million in tax revenues.

"These numbers represent a gain from the previous report, in 2002, and the park has grown since we completed the analysis, with the addition of CitiCards and other employers," said Dr. Vera Pavlakovich-Kochi, director of the regional development program for the Office of Economic and Policy Analysis.

The only number to go down was tax revenue. That was due to changes in the local allocation of state revenue, she said.

"Tucson grew during the last few years, but Phoenix grew even faster, which reduced our share," Pavlakovich-Kochi said.

The numbers were intended to depict the contribution to the local economy, especially money brought in from outside the community, but she said "this is a small piece of a larger pie," adding "we feel there are many things that are being left out. There are unmeasurable impacts from the Science and Technology Park that are as important as what we have here, but we can't enumerate them."

Speaking at a press conference, the university's associate vice president for economic development, Bruce Wright, said the park is now the sixth largest university technology park in the nation and has been honored as "Outstanding Research Park" by the Association of University Research Parks.

The park's 10 years of growth have not only been in line with projections, they have exceeded the original expectations when the park was purchased, he said.

"At the time we purchased the park, there were two tenants here and about 700 employees," Wright said. "We've been averaging 600 or 700 new employees per year since then, and we're still seeing progress and improvement."

He said the growth of the Science and Technology Park has allowed for further changes to make it even more relevant to the high technology companies the university was committed to attracting.

"There's now the Arizona Center for Innovation, and that was a major step, and there's the presence of Vail High School, which has been a significant part of (encouraging growth of the city's high technology employment base)," Wright said. "We're now seeing student companies, launched by students and recent graduates of Eller College."

For the future, he said the university is looking to a land exchange with KB Home to provide more higher-end housing near the park. The move will also allow for the development of a 1,000-acre site near off I-10 and Kino Parkway, near University Physicians Healthcare Hospital at Kino Campus, as a specialized biotechnology park anchored by the C-Path Institute for innovations in pharmaceutical development.

"In the next 24 months, there will be a lot of intervening steps that will have to be approved before we can go forward, but we should have a master plan in place," Wright said. "We're going through an evolution and we've entered the adolescent period where we're getting traction in attracting high technology companies. We're where we were expecting to be at this point. So we're optimistic about the next few years."

The University of Arizona's report on the Science and Technology Park came on the heels of a similar report by IBM, the park's second largest tenant.

With over 1,700 full-time employees and a payroll of $150 million, IBM Tucson continues to rank as Tucson's second largest technology employer, behind only Raytheon Missile Systems in contribution to the local economy.

IBM storage systems development group, at the university's Science and Technology Park, now ranks 12th among the city's employers, the company said in its latest economic report to the city, and with 100 hires during 2004, in the top five for employing new graduates of the University of Arizona and Pima Community College.

According to the report, IBM paid an estimated $12 million annually in income, sales and property taxes during 2004. The company also makes an indirect contribution, the report stated, through 300 contract employees and relationship with 30 local suppliers, including TCI Solutions, Ephibian, Melting Sand, Automation Centre, CEO Software, Advanced Micro Corp., TDS Computer, The Random Factory and Oasis Computer Systems.

The company has also helped tourism, the report said, by bringing 2,000 visitors to Tucson during the last 12 months to attend presentations at the IBM TotalStorage Executive Briefing Center.

During 2004, IBM employees in Tucson earned 95 patents and the company introduced two new high-capacity data storage systems, capable of storing up to 2,400 times the amount of information in the Library of Congress.

Commenting on the company's achievements, Wright said, "This is great news for IBM. It's also great news for Tucson. That IBM is successful here says a great deal to other technology companies."

Along with its business operations, the company's economic impact report said employees contribute $800,000 in cash and equipment to support local schools and non-profit organizations, and 800 employees have volunteered for various community projects during the year.

IBM also entered into a partnership with the Arizona Research Laboratories at the University of Arizona to develop new technology in virtual storage environments. The cooperative program, funded by an IBM Shared University Research Grant, will involve development of new data management systems for the university's Arizona Life Sciences Information Cataloguing Environment.

In 2004, IBM Tucson received the Metropolitan Education Commission's Crystal Apple Award, for education outreach efforts, and the Governor's Pioneering Innovation Award.

Philip S. Moore may be contacted at pmoore@azbiz.com or at (520) 295-4238.