?Michigan’s outstanding research universities continue to play a tremendous role in helping to transform our state?s economy. The acquisition of the Pfizer property will help not only create thousands of jobs, it will help attract further investment in the region and the state. We applaud President Coleman and the Board of Regents for their commitment to the university and to the state of Michigan.? –Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm.

“This purchase is an investment in the future of the University of Michigan and of our state. These facilities will help attract more research funding to the area, allowing us not only to broaden our contributions as one of the nation’s premier research universities, but also to strengthen the region’s ability to stimulate new business.” ?- U-M President Mary Sue Coleman.

“We have been building and renovating across our campus to meet the need, but we have struggled to keep pace with the incredible productivity of our faculty and staff. This new space presents an unprecedented opportunity to fulfill their needs now and in the future, to recruit new faculty and their teams to our institution, and to develop our region’s power as a magnet for high-skill workers. At the same time, expanding our research capabilities will ultimately translate into development of better treatments for our patients. An investment such as this is essential to remaining a world-class health care institution.”– Dr. Robert Kelch, the University’s executive vice president for medical affairs and CEO of the U-M Health System.

“The purchase of the Pfizer site by the University of Michigan will expand research opportunities for this world-class university and create jobs for our state. At a time when the news has been filled with gloomy economic forecasts, the University of Michigan’s announcement today is a wonderful piece of good news. The new facility will give scientists an exceptional site where they can conduct critical health and biomedical research, and it will attract new business and development in the region.” — Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.

“Given the current economic climate, this is an important and bold commitment by The University of Michigan to participate in the revitalization of the Ann Arbor region. We fully support the University’s acquisition of the Ann Arbor Pfizer Global Research and Development facility and applaud their commitment to redeveloping the site for public and potential private use.” — Michael A. Finney, president and CEO, Ann Arbor SPARK.

?This is wonderful and exciting news. The need for significantly more research space has been one of our most pressing issues for many years. This problem has severely hampered our ability to recruit world class scientists. The enormity of this space will allow us to put researchers with common interests contiguous to one another which is a key to advancing discovery in a much more efficient manner. Those who negotiated the purchase are to be congratulated.” — Melvin A. Lester, M.D, special assistant to the executive vice president of medical affairs.