iFAB leads biotech boom in central Illinois

URBANA, Ill. (WAND) — The Illinois Fermentation and Agriculture Biomanufacturing (iFAB) Tech Hub has been awarded approximately $51 million from the Tech Hubs Program through the Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration.

The iFAB consortium, led by the University of Illinois-Champaign, will receive a grant to position central Illinois as a global leader in biomanufacturing and precision fermentation, supporting national security, economic growth, and job generation.

“Securing this grant is a testament to the hard work and collaboration of our partners and the strategic importance of leveraging biology as a manufacturing technology of the future — we are thrilled to lead this charge in making Central Illinois the heart of biomanufacturing in the U.S. and beyond,” said Beth Conerty, iFAB regional innovation officer.

Biomanufacturing and Precision Fermentation will become a 200-billion dollar industry and add a million jobs to the U.S. economy in the next 10-to-15 years.