Business Spotlight
What makes HudsonAlpha stand out?
HudsonAlpha Wiregrass is a public-private collaboration with the city of Dothan and the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology to use the power of DNA to make improvements in plant health and solve other real-world problems in genetics and genomics. We’re bringing exciting new opportunities in life sciences and research to students and professionals across Dothan and the greater Wiregrass region.
Downtown Dothan is buzzing with energy, creating endless possibilities for this partnership to drive innovation in research, education and economic development. Together, we’re positioning the region for a brighter, more dynamic future in biotechnology and beyond.
Describe an exciting recent highlight for your business/organization:
The city of Dothan celebrated the “topping out” of its new Wiregrass Innovation Center in March. HudsonAlpha Wiregrass will anchor the 45,000-square-foot facility. By leveraging and engaging with local and regional stakeholders, we anticipate that this new center will spark innovation, enhance STEM education and inspire economic growth in the region.
The Wiregrass Innovation Center will open in 2026 and will be a space for hands-on training, learning and engagement of agtech innovation in the world of science, genomics and research. The building will include over 15,000 square feet of wet lab space and 8,000 square feet of office space available to lease. Learn more at www.wiregrassinnovation.org.
A good example of the kind of opportunities that HudsonAlpha Wiregrass is facilitating is that in February five students from the Wiregrass participated in HudsonAlpha’s annual tech life sciences tech challenge (hackathon) in Huntsville. Participants competed for the chance to win more than $5,000 in cash and prizes in two categories, High School and College/Professional. To have students here exercising their skills in biotechnology is tremendous and something that we hope will grow. And we invite everyone to follow all of HudsonAlpha’s research in our Research Report.
How has your business/organization changed in the last 12 months and what do you see for the future?
2023 marked our first full year as HudsonAlpha Wiregrass — a year of milestones and growth. As we wrapped up 2024, we expanded the WIREGRASS Peanut Project to even more area schools, continued hosting innovation roundtables for local entrepreneurs and business owners, and facilitated “HudsonAlpha U” community education events for the public.
Looking ahead, we are thrilled about the 2026 opening of the Wiregrass Innovation Center at the Carver Research Campus. We’re also bringing HudsonAlpha summer camps to the Wiregrass and launching the BioTrain internship program to provide college students with hands-on experience.
Our impact continues to grow:
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- Six full-time employees supporting our mission;
- Six local entrepreneurs in our mentoring program, creating seven new jobs;
- 700 third-graders in Dothan City Schools participated in our DNA Day; and
- Two ag tech companies recruited to the area.
The momentum is strong, and we’re excited for what’s ahead.
What advice would you offer to someone looking for the type of services your business/organization provides?
HudsonAlpha Wiregrass provides public learning opportunities through our HudsonAlpha U program. Our next session is June 3, at 6 p.m. at Downtown Books. You can also follow us on all of our social media, sign up for our monthly newsletter or weekly texts to stay updated on what we are doing. Please reach out to Dean Mitchell, director of HudsonAlpha Wiregrass, if you have any questions or would like to learn more about HudsonAlpha Wiregrass at (334) 446-9111, dmitchell@hudsonalpha.org or visit https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bNV871LM8Rise1wLDj2XXiA2QvHrbGqU/view.