SOUTH BEND – Its small size belies its importance to economic development in South Bend. An analytical laboratory only 847 square feet in size is now open in Notre Dame’s Innovation Park.

            The lab can be leased by the hour or by the day by businesses. And along with the lab, tenants have access to high tech scientific instruments at the University of Notre Dame that otherwise would be accessible only by faculty at the university.

            Rates to rent the lab are affordable for start-ups and small businesses. Without the lab, businesses would have to rent each individual piece of equipment, which would be far more expensive and time consuming. The equipment in the lab was purchased with a $750,000 Department of Energy grant; all of the equipment is owned by Innovation Park.

            Building and equipping the lab cost about $1.2 million.