The community, along with Scott & White, Temple Health and Bioscience Economic and Development District and other entities, had the foresight to develop an infrastructure where cancer research can be taken to a new level, Gov. Rick Perry said Friday when he presented Scott & White with a $7.5 million grant from the Texas Enterprise Fund.

The grant is expected to generate 1,500 jobs during the next decade by expanding the Scott & White Cancer Research Institute and other health care programs.

“It could not have come at a better time with the cancer initiative (Proposition 15) passing on Tuesday,” Perry said. “They’re way ahead of the curve.”

The governor took an opportunity Friday to tout Proposition 15, a constitutional amendment on the Nov. 6 general election ballot, which if passed, would authorize the issuance of up to $3 billion for research in Texas to find the causes of and cures for cancer.

Scott & White with its 6,500 employees and nearly $1 billion budget is Bell County’s largest private employer and has every intention on continuing its growth.

“Our 10-year vision is to expand medical research and biotechnology,” said Dr. Alfred Knight, president and CEO of Scott & White Memorial Hospital.

That initiative will result in more people doing research - the scientists, the students and the technicians, Knight said.

Cancer has staggering impact on Texas - 37,000 deaths annually and a $30 billion tab for treatment and lost work, Perry said.

“We’re really fortunate in Texas … there’s been groundbreaking work done here,” Perry said.

The state has a great infrastructure for cancer research, he said.

“I think we can be more aggressive and that’s what Proposition 15 is all about,” Perry said.

“When, not if, Proposition 15 passes, the pace of this race that we’re in will pick up substantially,” he said.

The process of getting the $7.5 million grant wasn’t a case of good luck. All of the players - Scott & White, the Cancer Research Institute and Temple Health and Bioscience Economic and Development District - played roles in the garnering the funds.

Four years ago the State Legislature authorized the Temple Health and Bioscience Economic and Development District which had as its goal to develop businesses engaged in research and development of bioscience products, biotechnology laboratories, pharmaceutical facilities, biotechnology incubators and related projects.

Cancer researcher Dr. Arthur Frankel, who was recruited to head up the Cancer Research Institute in 2005, is doing cutting edge research and has the type of focus the state envisions will be funded through Proposition 15, Perry said.

“I strongly believe not only are we moving closer to a cure for cancer, but it’s also going to be a real positive impact on the economics of this area,” he said.

Frankel, Perry said, will be a magnet for other researchers.

Because of research taking place at the Cancer Research Institute and work being done in Austin, when people hear the news that they have cancer, it won’t be a death sentence, Perry said.

“They’ll have hope,” he said. “That’s what this facility and this effort is all about.”

The enterprise grant will further Texas and the Temple area as a place where real medical research and economic enterprise are intertwined, Perry said.

Grants awarded by the Texas Enterprise Fund has created thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in investments, said Wendell Williams, president of Temple Health and Bioscience Economic and Development District board of directors.

“This will be the best investment the enterprise fund has made to date … we’ll make sure of that,” Williams said.

The Health and Bioscience District sponsored the TEF grant application.

Temple has been lucky with its start as a railroad town, he said. Transportation has had and continues to have an impact on the local economy. Distribution companies add significant worth to the community, as do a number of large manufacturers.

“We’ve been fortunate to have a healthcare giant growing in our midst, that being Scott & White,” Williams said.

Along with the VA, Texas A&M College of Medicine and King’s Daughters Hospital, there is a tremendous foundation of health care in Temple, he said.

With the $7.5 million grant, the medical landscape in Temple is about to change, Williams said.

“This will be the force that brings 21st century jobs to Temple, Texas, and helps put Texas on the leading edge of research in the nation,” he said.

The Scott & White Cancer Research Institute began July 2005 with a mission to accelerate the clinical development of new treatments for cancer and other debilitating diseases.

In its two-year history the institute has undergone significant growth.

The research institute began with a staff of three, which has grown to 24 scientists, technicians, coordinators, administrators, physicians, veterinarians and nurses engaged in the production and testing of nine compounds to treat prostate cancer, acute myeloid leukemia, Hodgkins Disease, T-cell lymphoma, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, metastatic melanoma, advanced lung cancer, metastatic colon cancer and chronic pain, Frankel said.

With the TEF grant, new research activities will include the engineering, manufacturing and testing of new compounds for brain tumors, bladder, pancreas and breast cancers and B-cell lymphoma, he said.

“What we’re trying to build is a new economic model for how you can bring in new ideas and new compounds and help them get through all the way to the patient,” Frankel said.

The grant, he said, will fund the construction of a pharmacology and toxicology laboratory with rooms for imaging, primary cell culture, histology, temperature controlled rooms and more.

A manufacturing facility will be built to produce three new agents for clinical testing, Frankel said.

“I suspect that Central Texas, Scott & White and the Cancer Research Institute are going to be on the cutting edge of finding the cures to a lot of these diseases, not just cancer,” Perry said.

This is the type of collaboration - with involvement of both public and private sector - that Texans want to see their tax dollars to go toward, Perry said.

Perry made his announcement at the Texas Bioscience Institute on Scott & West Campus where the Cancer Research Institute is located.

jgibbs@temple-telegram.com