Pembrokeshire has been awarded £5.2 million in Objective 1 funding to support the first Technium in the county. The Technium project involves Pembrokeshire County Council in partnership with The Welsh Development Agency and the University of Wales, Swansea, and will become part of the Wales Technium Network. The £10 million Technium will provide both existing and new businesses in Pembrokeshire with all the facilities they need to develop highly innovative processes and products. Technium Pembrokeshire will add to a chain of successful Techniums throughout Wales. Techniums offer the optimum environment to enable knowledge-based 'start-up and spin-out' companies to realise their potential. The concept includes a network of state-of-the-art facilities across Wales served by the latest information technology and high-band width capabilities. The news has been welcomed by the leader of Pembrokeshire County Council, Clr. John Davies. He said that Pembrokeshire was currently experiencing an investment boom as multi-national giants, such as ExxonMobil, were establishing a firm foothold in the county. He went on: "It is easy to forget that until recently Pembrokeshire had the highest unemployment rates for 25 years. "Projects such as the new LNG facilities mean substantial investment which will create employment opportunities and support existing businesses for the next five years. "Support of the Pembrokeshire economy in the long term depends upon being innovative and bringing new technology into the county. The aim of Technium Pembrokeshire is to incubate and grow new businesses over the next 10 to 15 years, thereby laying the foundation for a more diverse and higher value economy for future generations. "Focusing on the energy sector, Technium Pembrokeshire will become a showpiece for innovation. By encouraging cluster development across this key sector it will become a centre of expertise in renewable and sustainable energy resources. "It is hoped that the Technium will create the opportunity for the county's most talented young people to return to Pembrokeshire to develop their ideas and concepts." The Technium will develop closer relationships with higher education, in particular the University of Wales, Swansea. It will also create and develop relationships with key players in industry and explore how they can make a greater commitment to the county. Technium in Pembrokeshire will be built at the existing Cleddau Bridge Business Park, Pembroke Dock, and construction work should begin shortly. It will consist of a hub building containing a number of incubation units, together with research facilities staffed by a team from the Power Electronics Design Centre at Swansea University. There will also be meeting rooms and administrative offices. On the same campus will be two blocks of expansion units designed for businesses who outgrow incubation facilities or businesses wishing to co-locate with the Technium in order to benefit from the facilities available. Temporary accommodation for researchers and specialist business support teams will be made available at the county council's nearby E-Commerce Centre before the permanent move into the Technium Pembrokeshire in autumn 2006.