SkySong, The ASU Innovation Center, is now home to a company on the front lines of the fight against the COVID-19 virus.
Banner Innovation Group, a department within Banner Health focused on purposeful and disciplined innovation, has leased a new space at SkySong. Banner Health formed the Banner Innovation Group to innovate care delivery and business models, patient experiences, development of transformative partnerships and rapid scaling of solutions.
During the current public health crisis, Banner Innovation Group is partnering with public and private sector groups to meet the growing demand for supplies for health care professionals, including personal protective equipment, 3D printing of masks and face shields and gown manufacturing options.
Banner Innovation Group had been looking at a presence in SkySong for months, but with their new 8,300-square-foot space in SkySong 2 now in place, they are able to collaborate with Plaza Companies and Holualoa Companies to meet the growing crisis. They also have an extensive relationship with Arizona State University which will expand over time as part of their presence at SkySong.
“Banner Innovation Group is committed to improving the quality of health care through purposeful and disciplined innovation and the relationship that exists between SkySong and ASU grants us access to some of the brightest minds in the industry,” said Banner Innovation Group Executive Director Christine Anderson. “In this time of crisis, the partnership between Banner Innovation Group, ASU and SkySong has been particularly beneficial.”
The new space for Banner Innovation Group consolidates two spaces that were on opposite ends of the Valley.
“Not only does this exemplify what ASU and Plaza Companies envisioned for SkySong tenants, it serves as a great example of community leadership coming together in a time of crisis,” said Sharon Harper, Chairman and CEO of Plaza Companies. “Banner Innovation Group will play an important role in Arizona’s COVID-19 response and we are pleased to be able to support them now and in the future.”
“The SkySong team prides itself on being able to act quickly and be responsive to the needs of our tenants,” said Stan Shafer, Chief Operating Officer of Holualoa Companies, one of the partners in SkySong. “The kind of collaboration you’re seeing with Banner Innovation Group is one of the distinguishing features of SkySong.”
The Coppola Cheney Group of Lee & Associates, SkySong’s leasing broker represented the property ownership group. Banner Innovation Group was represented by Vicki Robinson of Jones LaSalle Lang in the SkySong transaction.
“We continue to be pleased with the growth and expansion at SkySong, and are looking forward to expanding our work with Banner Innovation Group,” said Sethuraman Panchanathan, executive vice president of Knowledge Enterprise and chief research and innovation officer at ASU. “We welcome Banner Innovation Group to the project, and are gratified to support their efforts to preserve public health and respond to the COVID-19 outbreak.”