Some University researchers are being asked to step out of the laboratory and pick up a phone in support of the research park -- and the park's success may depend on how persuasive they are.

"Most parks are not successful because they run around chasing corporations located in other places," said Fred Meade, director of the University's Research Park.

The University is concentrating on recruiting smaller companies from nearby states, he added.

Meade said University researchers, who are privately funded by corporations, are being used to lure companies to the park. The researchers are asked to speak with the company and tell them about the opportunities that exist at the research park, he said.

"The large majority of what I do is, one by one, talk to faculty," Meade said.

Art Heim, director of the Industrial Research Office, is also involved with moving companies into the park. Faculty are the key to luring companies here because of their knowledge of the corporations supporting them, he said.

"That works whether or not the company is interested in building a building here or is just interested in doing research here," Heim added.

So far, the outlook for the park has been positive, said Meade, who pointed to the dwindling commercial space in the Technology Center and the recent agreement with Stanford Research Institute International as signs of success. And more talks are under way, he said.

"We've seriously negotiated with a number of commercial clients," Meade said, adding that he couldn't say who they were.

SRI International is one of the first clients to sign for space in the park, and, as a research-devoted organization, should fit well into the park's overall design, Meade said.

"Penn State's only mistake would have been not to build the park," he said.

Although the park could take several years to show a profit and has cost the University $60 million to build, Meade said the University's commitment to research will pay off.

"Penn State has the second largest volume of contracts with private corporations in the country," he said, adding that only the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has more corporate support.