IBM is the latest company to join Aggie Square, with plans to launch a research lab at the University of California Davis' upcoming satellite campus in Sacramento.
The site will serve as the new headquarters for the Aggie Square planning team, as well as a gathering space for public engagement. The headquarters will place three groups under one roof: a team of IBM specialists, UC Davis faculty and the university’s Office of Public Scholarship and Engagement.
These groups will be housed within a 6,500-square-foot building just south of UC Davis Medical Center at 2270 Stockton Blvd. The university has secured leases for the building, which formerly housed a bookstore, and plans to open the new headquarters roughly around May, according to Robert Segar, planning director for Aggie Square.
“We hope to be a long-term partner here with Aggie Square,” said Kim Hewitt, client director for IBM (NYSE: IBM).
IBM will be relocating a small portion of its specialists who work on information technology for child welfare, Hewitt said. The teams, which are currently located in the Midwest, work to optimize case management and support for child welfare organizations.
The site will also serve as a research hub to develop new IBM technologies, and a demonstration space, Hewitt said.
Aggie Square is anticipated to not only boost the university’s research capacity, but also provide high-paying jobs and educational opportunities for the nearby Oak Park neighborhood. The new headquarters will serve as a "launch facility" for that mission.
“We are building an innovation ecosystem, and I’m sure today’s collaboration is a preview of greater things to come,” said UC Davis Chancellor Gary May at a news conference.
The new headquarters is the second project announced for Aggie Square's 25-acre campus. The university unveiled plans for its inaugural project, a 40-bed rehabilitation hospital, last August.
Future phases for the project could see a skilled nursing facility and behavioral health facility, which would also be run by a third-party group, UC Davis Health CEO Dr. David Lubarsky has said.