Champaign County EDC: $51 million federal award will seed iFabTech hub to attract bioprocessing firms

The Champaign County Economic Development Corporation told the Urbana City Council on Nov. 25 that a federal Economic Development Administration award of $51,000,000 will fund early-stage infrastructure and management for the region’s iFabTech Hub, a multi-county initiative to support bioprocessing and precision fermentation companies.

Carly McCrory McKay, director of the Champaign County EDC, said the funding came through an EDA competition that selected 12 hubs nationally; the iFabTech Hub was one of four projects awarded the highest funding level. "We were absolutely thrilled to receive funding from the federal government, the U.S. Economic Development Administration," McCrory McKay said, describing the award as the largest the region received in the competition.

The EDC presentation summarized how the $51 million will be allocated. McCrory McKay said four projects were selected from seven proposals: three infrastructure projects and hub management. Hub management funds will pay for additional staff, including a proposed business-attraction manager who will work with property owners, brokers and utilities to identify and ready sites. One infrastructure award will expand the integrated bioprocessing research lab on the University of Illinois campus, roughly tripling the number of companies the facility can serve from about 20 to about 60 per year.

McCrory McKay framed the hub as a decade-long effort to make Champaign, Piatt and Macon counties a national leader in bioprocessing infrastructure. She said the designation confers non-financial benefits as well as grant resources and that the EDA award is not expected to be sufficient to complete the region’s full vision. "$51,000,000 is certainly a lot of money, but it's not enough to be able to become the global leader in this space over the next decade," she said, and added the hub will pursue additional grants and private investment.

The EDC described complementary programs that support the local business pipeline. McCrory McKay gave statistics for related talent and small-business initiatives: the Champaign-Urbana job board and "talent roster" have served roughly 600 people since April 2023; the Shambana Welcome Crew has served more than 240 people, 50 of them new Urbana residents; and the Community Navigator program helped deploy more than $5,000,000 in recovery and small-business assistance to Urbana businesses since July 2021. The EDC also said a recent navigator round disbursed $70,000 to four Urbana businesses.

Council members asked about the geographic scope for site identification (the three-county IFAB region) and about utilities and wastewater needs that will be required for bioprocessing facilities. McCrory McKay said the new business-attraction hire would coordinate with utilities and landowners on power and wastewater upgrades and that the hub will pursue additional funding to address those infrastructure costs.

The presentation also referenced workforce and export supports — including a new Illinois Apex Accelerator and government contracting assistance the EDC recently stood up — intended to connect employers with talent and procurement opportunities.

Council members did not take formal action on the presentation; it was delivered as informational during the meeting.