UCSC Review Winter 1997

MBEST Center receives $1 million boost

UC's Monterey Bay Education, Science, and Technology (MBEST) Center at the former Fort Ord military base will soon take another step toward recruiting new educational and research tenants, thanks to a $1 million grant from the Economic Development Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The new arrivals will join tenants such as Systems West, a satellite weather-technology company; UCSC Extension, which offers classes in environmental remediation and other topics; and the Pacific Cetacean Group, a nonprofit education and research organization.

The grant, announced last fall by then-White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta, was part of a $15 million Fort Ord redevelopment package from the Economic Development Administration. UCSC, lead campus for the MBEST Center, will use most of the grant to plan and construct a new building at the center's site, near the Marina Municipal Airport. The building will become the second permanent MBEST facility.

Construction should begin by early 1998 and will last about eight months.