Presbyterian Health Foundation Research Park released its first action report on Thursday, Nov. 18, and announced a merger between Research Park tenant Inoveon and an international company establishing its United States presence.

"The PHF Research Park Action Report" is a 121-page book that shows the economic impact of the enterprises at PHF Research Park.

"Since the last quarter of 2006, through the present day, there has been a 27.3% increase in employment, from 1,178 to 1,500 employees," said Michael Anderson, PHF president. "The executive salaries of the companies and agencies in the Research Park range from $110,000 to over $360,000 per year.  The average salary in the Research Park is just over $85,000. The labor income impact for the Research Park is $136,728,839 per year."

Grants and investments also contribute to the economic impact.

"We experience an economic engine that produces $2.136 billion of valued research, work and products when grants and investments, largely from outside of the State of Oklahoma, are added to the comprehensive balance sheet of all the Research Park entities," Anderson said.

Inoveon, one of 36 science-based companies housed at the PHF complex, announced its merger with Cologne, Germany's ifa Systems AG, a global leader in IT solutions for ophthalmology. This will be the German company's first and only major presence in the United States.

 "We have previously worked with ifa Systems AG supporting open clinical and technological standards. We complement each other well when used in the eye clinics and ophthalmic supply networks," said Carl Gibson, Inoveon president and CEO.