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GREENSBORO - Block by block, a mason in a wooded area off U.S. 29 is building a literal gateway for a conceptual one. Construction - major and minor - is under way at both campuses of the Gateway University Research Park north of the city, and those involved say the building is fueling interest.

"It's our future," said Dan Lynch, president of the Greensboro Economic Development Alliance. "It helps differentiate us between other counties trying to do economic development."

The research park is the largest collaborative effort ever entered into by UNCG and N.C. A&T and is expected to help develop economic growth for the area. Planning got under way in 2003 but the project began gaining momentum in 2006.

The park will be home to research and development for both universities. It is made up of two campuses. The north campus is near Bryan Park on the former campus of the Central North Carolina School for the Deaf . The south campus is about 11 miles away, off East Lee Street, on farmland owned by A&T.

Lynch said the importance of such a project came up during a recent conversation among local officials.

"We were talking about how we were able to weather the storm after the manufacturing industry started hemorrhaging jobs 10 to 12 years ago, and it's because of the colleges and universities," he said.

Construction at the north campus has been limited to retrofitting many of the spaces and some renovations. Those minor changes and the secluded location gave the curious little growth to see. It was breaking ground in 2007 on the south campus that got many excited, said Gateway Executive President John Merrill.

"Like everything, until you can see it, touch it and kind of kick the tires, if you will, it isn't real," he said.

Some neighboring residents brought up concerns about building at the south campus but the schools and Gateway officials have worked out at least a tenuous understanding with the property owners.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is the first tenant at the south campus. The department will move its Greensboro conservation office from space near Moses Cone Hospital into a 30,000-square-foot facility. The USDA office will occupy about half the space currently available.

Construction at the south campus provided real-world learning opportunities, as well. A&T students teamed with an engineering company to perform testing at the site. Architectural engineering students from the school were given the same design specifications as the contracted company to see what they could develop.

Robert Powell is a professor of architectural engineering at A&T . He said students are given similar assignments every year but the buildings are already built. The Gateway project gave them a unique opportunity to see the designs implemented in construction. It was a chance many of the teachers in the program envied.

"All the professors said, 'None of us had this experience in school,' " Powell said.

While the south campus is forming, research is already under way at the north campus. The campus is home to seven research programs and Sarah's Salsa , a "spin out" from the UNCG business incubator program, the Nussbaum Center for Entrepreneurship .

Sarah Ward owns the salsa company and said the research program has been a huge factor in her success.

"That's just been incredible," Ward said. "We would not be existing if we had to pay a typical rent."

Ward and her partners make the salsa - a recipe she created to satiate pregnancy cravings - in the kitchen that serviced the former school. The larger space at the research park allows for increased production of the salsa. Sarah's Salsa is available at local Fresh Market grocery stores.

Gateway also will be home to a second A&T and UNCG collaborative effort.

It was announced last year that the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering will be there. The research school will develop science and technology used in manipulating elements at the particle level and is expected to be a major player in future economic development in the area.

Contact J. Brian Ewing at 373-7351 or brian.ewing@news-record.com