Green Acres in Downtown L.A.

California's Silicon Valley may be the hot-spot for entrepreneurial technology, but Los Angeles is looking to come up to speed.

According to a September 17, 2008, article in Greentech Media, plans are in the works to develop a 20-acre site in downtown Los Angeles, designed to be a central manufacturing and green technology innovation hub.

Set to break ground in 2010, the site will be home to one million square feet of manufacturing facilities, including dedicated space as "a greentech incubator," said Cecelia Estolano, CEO of L.A.'s Community Redevelopment Agency, at the Cleantech Forum in Washington, D.C.

Slated to be called the Cleantech Manufacturing Center, the agency purchased the land in April from the state of California for $14 million. To attract green businesses, various incentives will be offered to help build up the green-tech sector of the region's economic engine. Criteria for the selection of eligible businesses are currently being developed, one of which requires companies to be non-polluting. The site now being ready for construction, the CRA was to begin accepting applications from interested companies late last month.

The CRA is seeking a university or company to run the incubator on site. The agency is currently in contact with California Institute Technology and the University of California in Los Angeles, and other non-university organizations, as possible candidates.

Is there a place for CSULB to get involved? Once completed, what kind of opportunities might the Center offer for students and professors at our campus -- from cooperative research and development projects to business employment opportunities and, certainly, as a seedbed for journalism students keeping a close eye on green-tech innovations right here in L.A.

- Misako M.