Cutting the ribbon on Tech Pointe II

On Oct. 23, 2019, Gov. John Bel Edwards, during a campaign stop for reelection to his second term, joined Louisiana Tech University President Les Guice in unveiling plans for Tech Pointe II, an extension of Tech’s Enterprise Campus that would house and partner with private industry tenants.

Four years and two days later, now in the home stretch of their respective tenures, Edwards and Guice reunited Wednesday to cut the ribbon on the completed facility.

Backed by a combination of state, city and private funds, the $17 million, 40,000 square-foot Class A office building will house three companies with strong partnerships with Tech programs.

“The new multi-tenant facility that we dedicate today will serve as a catalyst for many more university partnerships and will enhance the experiential learning and the success of our students while advancing our campus and our community as an even greater place to live and work for the future,” Guice said.

Standing not much farther than a Diamond Dog fastball away from where they first announced the Tech Pointe II project four years ago, Edwards and Guice recounted their years of partnering for investments in Tech facilities as they prepare to step out of their current roles at the end of December.

Located just across the South Homer Street/ Dan Reneau Drive intersection from the original Tech Pointe, Tech Pointe II is intended to be the next phase of its predecessor, offering more extensive office space to fewer, more advanced tenants, rather than acting as an incubator for nearly a dozen startups.

Radiance Technologies, a research and development partner for the Department of Defense, has signed a five- year lease to occupy nearly all of the second and third floors of Tech Pointe II, in part to have immediate access to Tech’s micromanufacturing facilities and talent pipeline.

Business consulting company Crossmark Management Group and the LA New Product Development Team will split the ground floor, also on five-year leases.

The state government has invested $160 million in capital projects at Tech throughout Edwards’ two terms in office.

Edwards said that’s because higher education is, in his mind, the state’s most critical priority.

“The most precious natural resource God has entrusted to us is these students walking between these classrooms,” he said.

Each Tech Pointe II tenant plans to draw much of its workforce from Tech students and graduates.

“When I think about the opportunities that will be created for students here at Tech Pointe II, working for those fine companies that are going to be tenants — even as they earn their degrees, they’re getting the experience they’re going to need to have rewarding careers,” Edwards said.

Term- limited from seeking reelection, Edwards, a Democrat, will turn the reins of the state over to Republican Governer-elect and current Attorney General Jeff Landry in January.

The governor said it’ll be critically important for Louisiana to “stay the course” in investing in higher education in the future.

When Guice and Edwards first announced the building, the COVID-19 pandemic hadn’t yet struck, and an EF3 tornado had torn through Ruston and Tech campus just six months ago.

But the work to bring Tech Pointe II to reality started even long before that.

“What you’re seeing here now started 20 years ago with a conversation between me and some other business leaders here in town,” Guice said after Wednesday’s ceremony. “ We started master planning the Enterprise Campus. We’ve got four buildings here in the Enterprise Campus, but where do we go from here? Not just with this campus, but developing the connection between the Enterprise Campus and downtown Ruston.”

Plans to secure more tenants and seek funding for a Tech Pointe III are already in the works.

That’ll be a project extending beyond Guice’s time in the 16th floor of Wyly Tower. He’s retiring at the end of the year after more than 10 years at the helm and decades working on campus.

University of Louisiana System President Jim Henderson was appointed to succeed Guice just hours after the Tech Pointe II unveiling Wednesday.

After the ceremony, Guice got emotional as he looked up at one of the final completed projects of his tenure.

“We’re trying to do some things here that other universities do in other parts of the country, but not so much around here,” he said after collecting himself. “We want people to grow up here in Louisiana, in poor communities and prosperous ones, come get a great education, get some practical experience, and then help us keep their jobs here if they want to stay and continue to work.

“Seeing this become a reality and knowing that now we have two buildings like this on campus that are full — that’s what it’s all about.”