GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Gwinnett County leaders gathered Thursday to talk about what comes next at Rowen, a 2,000-acre innovation hub where a Belgian drug maker is investing $2 billion.
UCB makes medicines for people with rare diseases, including epilepsy, a brain condition that causes seizures. The county estimates the project will have a $5 billion economic impact and bring more than 1,000 permanent jobs.
“This facility is built here in the U.S. to supply the U.S. patient even quicker,” said Nicolas Debruyne, UCB’s head of U.S. engineering. “For epilepsy, one in three people in the U.S. are cured by a UCB product.”
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The Rowen Foundation says the site, off University Parkway in eastern Gwinnett County, could one day hold more than 80,000 jobs across 22 million square feet of development.
“Rowen’s big announcement with UCB has garnered a lot of interest,” said Gwinnett County Chairwoman Nicole Love Hendrickson. “It’s now signaling to other businesses that Gwinnett is a destination. Gwinnett is in play.”
Mason Ailstock, president and CEO of the Rowen Foundation, said he wants the next companies at Rowen to tackle big problems like feeding the world and caring for human health.
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“To have a company with UCB’s global reputation and a $2 billion commitment is absolutely a market changer, and people pay very close attention to that,” Ailstock said.
Kevin Carmichael, senior vice president of Partnership Gwinnett, said the impact will reach beyond the site itself.
“These are jobs, these are families,” Carmichael said. “These employees are really going to ingrain themselves in the community.”
The Rowen Foundation plans to break ground on its main building this summer.
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