Grant to boost Innovation Campus, biotech startups

UNL Go B1G Red flags line downtown streets

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln will use a $750,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce to build biotechnology lab space at Nebraska Innovation Campus for small and start-up companies.

Together with unused construction funds to match the Economic Development Administration's grant, UNL will create a “biotechnology connector program” to stimulate economic growth in fields from agriculture to pharmaceuticals in Nebraska.

Within months, 10,000-square-feet of empty space at the Food Innovation Center will become laboratory space for as many as eight small companies each year for the next nine years, said Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Matt Erskine.

“This (Economic Development Administration) investment will help the state leverage a strong ag sector with new, innovative businesses and even new industries,” said Erskine, who leads the EDA.
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