Now here's something to get excited about. El Paso as a world-class biomedical center? Why not? Plans are already in the works to make that dream a reality. The Medical Center of the Americas is getting the ball rolling this week as companies from around the nation are meeting to begin creating a plan.

It's going to be a detailed, $300,000 community development that truly involves the community -- UTEP, El Paso Community College, New Mexico State University, the city and county of El Paso, Fort Bliss, White Sands Missile Range, Texas Tech University and Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez.

Those are powerful entities by themselves, and working cooperatively ... much can be accomplished.

And that's the plan. This isn't going to happen overnight. We're looking at a 50-year plan that eventually will become a 140-acre biomedical park near the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center and University Medical Center -- a perfect location.

The plan is going to be used to raise money for an 80,000-square-foot building and should take about eight months to complete.

One huge component of a biomedical center would be the commercial aspect. Why? As Emma Schwartz, president of the Medical Center of the Americas Foundation, said, "That commercialization is where we can create jobs."

Obviously, that would be great for El Paso and the local economy.

Ideas developed in the academic world can find commercial applications, to the mutual benefit of both sides.

Such a center could attract professionals in many areas -- research, medicine, biotech, clinical trials, design, manufacturing and more. It won't be inexpensive, but proponents already are looking at funding sources that include grants, federal tax-investment programs and debt financing.

But the return on any investment should be positive.

El Paso already has a strong medical presence with a medical school, University Medical Center, a children's hospital on the way and more. Aiming high to be a biomedical center seems a natural progression.

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