Thank you all for joining us today. We made it. After eight years of planning, long hours of construction, and unprecedented global challenges, we’ve arrived at this moment. 

Welcome to Aggie Square!

Before we begin, I want to thank all of you for joining us today. We could not have reached this milestone without the tireless contributions of our construction partners, local people working in the trades, our university partners, and so many in the community.

Our partnership with state government was invaluable. Thank you to State Senator Roger Niello and Assembly Member Maggy Krell for being with us this morning.

Our partners in local government have been right beside us from the groundbreaking moment to this moment.

I want to recognize Sacramento County Supervisor Patrick Kennedy, Sacramento City Councilmembers Roger Dickinson, representing District 2, and Phil Pluckebaum, representing District 4, for participating in this celebration.

We are grateful to Gregg Fishman, the Board President of SMUD, for joining us today.

Other supporters, including Lt. Governor Kounalakis and Congresswoman Matsui, who could not join us today, provided video remarks displayed on monitors that I hope you’ll enjoy as you tour the site.

It’s been a long road to this ceremony. A few months before my 2017 start, I met with Mayor Steinberg and hosted a Sacramento delegation at Technology Square in Atlanta. I wanted to show how Georgia Tech nurtured innovation and how we could take a project like this to new heights in Sacramento.

We shared a common vision. We saw that the City of Sacramento and UC Davis were ideal partners to develop an innovation ecosystem that would unite our campus and community while serving the common good.

We soon realized that Wexford Science & Technology was the only team capable of helping us turn this vision into reality.

Two core principles kept us on track over the years: unwavering optimism about the future of the Sacramento region and UC Davis, and a belief in the transformative power of public-private partnership.

This official opening marks an era of expanded opportunity.

For UC Davis students, today opens a new chapter for lifelong growth as interdisciplinary creators of every kind.

Imagine the power of students attending classes, transferring those basic research concepts to labs, and pitching ideas to investors — all in a site built from the ground up to encourage spontaneous interaction.

Those opportunities will extend from undergraduates to students in graduate and professional programs.

We’re excited for the new opportunities for lifelong learning in the Continuing and Professional Education program at Aggie Square.

And we’ll soon welcome students to our Master of Engineering in Medical Device Development, the first graduate degree program specifically designed for Aggie Square.

Students are already exploring biomedical engineering in the Quarter at Aggie Square program. They are learning how to build devices — and even observing surgeries at UC Davis Health.

Few undergraduates anywhere get an experience like that.

New on-site housing will allow our students, staff and partners to live, work, and study in the heart of our health campus.

For our researchers, today represents a new era of opportunity to collaborate and create. They will work alongside industry partners, clinicians, and patients as they develop medical devices and help create new companies in a wide range of sectors.

They will bring revolutionary innovations to market, reaching every corner of our community and the wider world we serve.

UC Davis is at the heart of Aggie Square. 60% of the space is devoted to our research, teaching and innovation initiatives that will power advancements for the benefit of all.

In our expanded Tech Foundry, they’ll take these innovations to the next level, bridging the gap between concept and prototypes.

At Aggie Square, UC Davis researchers will close the distance between discovery and recovery, accelerating innovative projects from labs to lives.

350 scientists from the School of Medicine and affiliated centers will conduct collaborative studies to improve patient care, quality of life, and public health.

They include researchers like Dr. Diana Farmer and Dr. Aijun Wang, whose pioneering work on effective, safe spina bifida treatments before birth is bringing new hope to families.

The School of Veterinary Medicine plans to expand its Veterinary Genetics Laboratory, renowned for innovative animal DNA testing and genetic services. It helps confirm clinical diagnoses and guides relevant treatment decisions for many conditions affecting animals.

Its new facilities at Aggie Square will accelerate life-changing discoveries advancing human and animal health. This includes research by Doctors Bellone, Grahn, Gershony and Avila to identify genetic risk factors for cancer, ocular disorders, and auditory disorders in dogs, horses, and camelids, paralleling human conditions.

For the community, today marks the beginning of increased connection with UC Davis. Aggie Square opens its doors for youth programs, artists, and neighborhood groups to thrive.

That connection is rooted in our Community Benefits Partnership Agreement. It’s the product of genuine, open consultation resting on the foundational belief that being good neighbors demands listening.

And for industry partners and the region, today demonstrates Sacramento’s expanding role as a hub of innovation and prospeity. This region is on the rise, and Aggie Square will supercharge innovation, develop talent, and attract investment to create jobs and build truly inclusive prosperity.

Just last week, we launched the Investing in the Future of Medicine Fund and the Health Venture Studio at Aggie Square.

These new initiatives will directly invest in UC Davis research, incubate startups, and support mission-aligned companies beyond our campus.

Building on that momentum, I’m pleased to announce a new collaboration with HM Venture Partners, a globally recognized, healthcare-focused venture capital firm, to help advance the mission of the Investing in the Future of Medicine Fund.

Together, we will combine HM Venture Partners’ proven expertise with our strengths to accelerate the growth of early-stage healthcare companies delivering real patient impact and strong financial returns.

I want to thank our Greater Sacramento Economic Council partners for facilitating this connection and supporting the Aggie Square project.

Recent analysis shows that UC Davis creates 61,700 jobs and drives over $9.5 billion in economic impact in the region. Aggie Square, which will generate $500 million in regional economic output and support 3,200 jobs annually, will propel that even further.

None of these dreams could have been realized without the collaboration of our partners. I want to thank them for their guidance, enthusiasm, and passion for this project.

Our neighbors in the surrounding communities have become trusted partners whose input we respect.

From that first meeting with Mayor Steinberg, the city of Sacramento has been with us every step of the way. And I want to thank Mayor Kevin McCarty for continuing to support our strong public-private partnership.

And of course, the Wexford Science & Technology team, which designed, financed, and built the site, exceeded expectations at every turn. Their development respects our region’s history and will empower innovators for generations to come.

Thank you, Claire, for your team’s tireless commitment to making Aggie Square the nation’s finest innovation ecosystem.

We will all continue this work together.

This celebration marks the end of Aggie Square's first chapter, but the story is far from over.

As we cut the ribbon this morning, we celebrate what we have achieved together and what this site will become: a model for the enormous potential unleashed when public and private partners build together for the common good.

Today, we’re turning the first page on a remarkable story. Let's embrace this new chapter and unleash this site's full potential together.

Welcome to Aggie Square!