Thomas Callahan started 2012 overseeing the Bioscience Connecticut initiative in Farmington, but he is ending the year in more familiar territory at UConn’s main campus in Storrs.
Less than a year after being put in charge of managing and implementing Bioscience Connecticut, the state’s $864 million attempt to reverse a two-decades-long jobs drought by creating a vibrant bioscience sector in Farmington, Callahan has moved on from that position to take the role of associate vice president for infrastructure planning and strategic project management at UConn.
Callahan said his return to Storrs, where he spent most of his 17 year career at UConn, was a result of him accomplishing most of his major tasks at the UConn Health Center in Farmington where he had been working since 2009.
Bioscience Connecticut involves six major construction projects including a major renovation of John Dempsey Hospital and adding a patient care tower and more parking. It also greatly expands bioscience research and training facilities at the Health Center and construction of the $191 million Jackson Laboratory facility.
“My work there was to help organize the legislative proposal for Bioscience Connecticut and organize the effort to execute the construction program,” Callahan said. “I think it has really gone according to the way it was drawn up.”
Callahan said accomplishments in 2012 included getting all the permitting done for the project, which required 20 different approvals from various state and local agencies. An environmental impact study was completed as were negotiations with Jackson Laboratory and its new facility. They also completed a community work force agreement with local labor unions and helped secure construction plans and financing for the new ambulatory care center.
With all that work complete, the next step is for construction to actually get underway, and Callahan said the next two years will largely include build out of the Bioscience Connecticut vision. As result, Callahan said his role was no longer needed in Farmington, particularly with arrival of Frank Torti, the new vice president for health affairs at the Health Center and dean of UConn’s medical school.
In his new role, Callahan is now tackling several projects in Storrs including developing a new water supply for the UConn campus and town of Mansfield.
