In Urbana, Duckworth Highlights Biotech Industry’s Role in National Security

In Urbana, Duckworth Highlights Biotech Industry's Role in National Security

[URBANA, IL] - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) met with members of the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology, officials from the Illinois Fermentation and Agriculture Biomanufacturing (iFAB) Tech Hub, biotech company representatives and local leaders today to highlight the importance of the biotechnology industry's role in our national security. Duckworth was a strong advocate for iFAB's designation by the U.S. Economic Development Administration as a Tech Hub. Photos from today's meeting are available on the Senator's website.

"Illinois is already a hub for agriculture, manufacturing, transportation and technology, making our state ideally positioned to support the sorts of biotech opportunities that bolster our national security," Duckworth said. "I was proud to welcome the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology to Illinois today and I'm thrilled that programs like iFAB are doing such an impressive job of proving that we have a strong framework in place to support future biotech investments and innovation."

Last month, Duckworth led a Congressional Delegation to South Korea and Japan to meet with high-level business leaders and government officials, continuing her successful efforts promoting Illinois as a leader in quantum, manufacturing and technology abroad. She was joined on this trip by U.S. Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ), as well as Intersect Illinois Board Member David Namkung and Chief Quantum Officer Preeti Chalsani.

Duckworth, along with U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, championed iFAB and advocated fiercely for its selection as a Tech Hub, which is a program authorized by the CHIPS and Science Act that directly invests in high-potential regions across the country to transform them into globally competitive innovation centers. A total of 31 Tech Hubs were selected nationwide from 198 applications from regional consortia that include industry, academia, state and local governments, economic development organizations and labor and workforce partners.

The iFAB Tech Hub, led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, seeks to scale precision fermentation to convert underutilized corn feedstocks into high-value, customized alternative proteins, food ingredients, materials, chemicals and more. By leveraging its regional assets in corn and soy feedstocks, food processing infrastructure and research leadership, the iFAB Tech Hub will provide a domestic biomanufacturing testbed through the development and deployment of multi-use pilot and demonstration capacity and equipment for biomanufacturing innovators while also training a skilled workforce. If successful, funding would support the growing biomanufacturing entrepreneurial ecosystem, critical infrastructure projects for lab space and multi-use facilities and much-needed workforce development training programs.

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