A yearlong campaign to promote biomanufacturing in central Illinois has paid off for the University of Illinois and its partners.
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration has awarded a grant of approximately $51 million to a consortium led by the University of Illinois to establish the Illinois Fermentation and Agriculture Biomanufacturing (or iFAB) technology hub in Champaign, Piatt and Macon counties.
The iFAB’s goal is to promote the development of biomanufacturing in central Illinois, including precision fermentation. These new technologies are used to produce medicines, foods, beverages and industrial materials from agricultural feedstocks such as corn and soybeans. Proponents of biomanufacturing believe it can provide a viable alternative to products currently made from fossil fuels.
Beth Conerty, of the university’s Integrated Bioprocessing Research Laboratory (IBRL), is the regional innovation lead for the new iFAB technology hub. She says that once fully operational, iFAB will help small companies that currently have to travel to Europe or China find facilities to take their biomanufacturing projects from pilot to demonstration stage.
“And that’s largely because the resources to do this don’t currently exist in the United States,” Conerty said. “We think this iFAB grant and many of the projects that are being funded can really help change that.”
The five-year grant from the Economic Development Administration will fund the construction of a new precision fermentation facility at IBRL on the University of Illinois at Urbana campus, the modernization of fermentation facilities at Archer Daniels Midland’s Decatur plant, and the expansion of fermentation capacity at Primient’s Decatur plant (part of a joint project with New York-based Synonym). The grant will also support the management of the iFAB Tech Hub.
Nicole Bateman is president of the Decatur and Macon County Economic Development Corporation, one of the iFAB consortium partners. She and other iFAB partners envision the Decatur-Champaign region becoming a catalyst for economic growth. With that in mind, companies that come to central Illinois to use its biomanufacturing facilities will stay in the area as they grow.
“That means they’re moving here,” Bateman said. “They’re bringing their families, they’re enrolling in our schools. They’re building homes, and then once they’ve gone through the whole development process, they’re bringing their businesses to the area: more jobs, more businesses and more stores.”
Bateman says central Illinois is a good place for a tech hub because of the biomanufacturing and research already happening there, as well as the proximity to corn and soybeans used as feedstocks.
Other members of the iFAB consortium include the Champaign County Economic Development Corporation, Parkland and Richland community colleges, business and industry groups, labor unions and workforce training organizations, and state and local governments.
iFAB is one of 12 technology hub projects that will receive a combined $504 million in funding announced July 2 by the federal Economic Development Administration. The grants were authorized by the CHIPS and Science Act, a federal law passed in 2022 to promote science and technology research.
The EDA is also funding another biomanufacturing project in the Indianapolis metropolitan area. Heartland BioWorks will focus on “increasing the region’s capacity to manufacture and deploy lifesaving medicines,” according to the EDA’s website.
