Virtual Groundbreaking Of American Red Cross Building At Cal Poly Pomona Provides Glimpse Of One Of The Largest Blood Processing Facilities In The World

The American Red Cross and Cal Poly Pomona will hold a groundbreaking for Southern California’s new $41 million regional blood center and headquarters at Cal Poly Pomona, but don't expect to see shovels or dirt.

The groundbreaking will be held “virtually” on Monday, June 16, at 10 a.m. in the current regional blood center in Downtown Los Angeles. The audience will see a computer fly-through of the facility as well as have an opportunity to hear from Marsha Johnson Evans, American National Red Cross president and chief executive officer; Jay Olmstead, American Red Cross Southern California Blood Region CEO; and Bob Suzuki, president, Cal Poly Pomona. DVD copies of the virtual groundbreaking will be also distributed.

The Red Cross will construct one of the largest blood centers in the world to serve Southern California’s growing and diverse population. Once completed, the complex will give the Southern California Region of the Red Cross a strategically located, state-of-the-art facility.

The facility will also serve as the anchor tenant for Cal Poly Pomona’s Innovation Village, a 65-acre mixed-use technology park designed to provide a setting for interface between the university’s human and technological resources and those of the private sector. It will provide prime educational and research opportunities for Cal Poly Pomona’s students and faculty as well as create new jobs and economic prospects within neighboring business communities.

Media Contact: Uyen Mai, Cal Poly Pomona, (909) 869-5331.