PEORIA MAGAZINE April 2022

asset for the biotech industry,” she said. “Peoria is truly fortunate to have such a level of expertise, found in few places in the world.” All of that is music to the ears of local economic development professionals. Indeed, it has been a decades-long frustration that because R&D follows venture capital, the jobs that otherwise might have been created here have too often escaped to both coasts, where most of that capital seems to exist. That i s st ar t ing to change. Communication channels that once upon a time may not have even existed locally have been opened. “We need to get in touch with them and they need to get in touch with us,” Ward saidof local entrepreneurs. COVID made some of that outreach more difficult the last couple of years, but NCAUR’s director has made it a priority. Meanwhile, the Ag Lab’s Technology Transfer Office is located right here “to help more of these technologies stick here in Peoria,” he said. “I think the Ag Lab can be a selling point for that,” added Ward. “We do a lot of listening to stakeholders about what type of research projects we want to undertake.”

Microbiologist Andrew Moyer led the Ag Lab’s penicillin team.

All in all, the work coming out of NCAUR has formed the foundation for the rise of multiple billion-dollar industries. This new frontier looks just as promising, with more than 60 commercial licenses currently granted to private sector companies hoping to take NCAUR’s research to market. Among the furthest along locally is Midwest Bioprocessing Center, housed at the Peoria NEXT Innovation Center. Ag Lab representatives “were a cornerstone of the initial Peoria NEXT steering committee looking to

foster inter-institutional collaborative research as an economic development tool,” said Michael Stubbs, director of Peoria NEXT. TheirworkwithMidwestBioprocessing Center is a great example of that. The two are partnering on the use of hemp seed oil in skin care products. Another is the development of the cover crop pennycress into a commercial biofuel, said Stubbs. Vivian Standifird, executive director of Peoria Bio-Made, has become a fan, as well. NCAUR “is a tremendous

World War II poster regarding the life-saving impact of penicillin.

44 APRIL 2022 PEORIA MAGAZINE