The Research Triangle Park (RTP)

From Astroturf to UPCs, good things come from here.

Pardon the mixed metaphors, but The Research Triangle Park® (RTP) is the region’s heart, soul and engine. It has fueled the economy in central North Carolina for more than 50 years.

Strategically located between the three prestigious universities of Duke University, North Carolina State University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and anchored by the cities of Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh, RTP is home to some of the most innovative and cutting-edge companies in the world.

Our researchers have patented discoveries ranging from the Universal Product Code to the cochlear implant. In total, native patents number more than 3,500. 3D ultrasound technology and the CtrlAltDelete function were both born here. So was Taxol, hailed by the National Cancer Institute as the most important new anti-cancer drug of the past 15 years. And AZT, a key drug in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

RTI International and its RTP staff of 2,200 provides research and technical services to governments and businesses in more than 40 countries.

In addition to treating diseases and computer lockups, the collective genius in the Park gives our region a globally recognized brand. That amounts not only to a competitive advantage for local companies, but a self-sustaining engine of growth as well. Success for RTP companies means an increase in RTP jobs, as more innovative companies and workers continue to flock here.

The innovations generated by companies in the park and its four technology incubators nurture an innovation culture and community that has created one of the world’s most vibrant, diverse and stable economies.

If there’s anything more desirable than that, it’s yet to be invented.