IIT AWARDED $5M FOR BIOMEDICAL COMPLEX

Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) today received $5 million in state funding for the continued development of a state-of-the-art biomedical business incubator and laboratories for emerging technology companies. The state appropriation guarantees IIT can move forward with the renovation of a Main Campus building, transforming it into a biomedical research and development complex offering labs and office space for start-up Illinois biomedical companies.

State Sen. Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago) presented the $5 million check to IIT President Lew Collens. The money is part of a three-year, $12 million commitment from the state. State Rep. Ken Dunkin (D-Chicago) and other political and community leaders joined Hunter at the check presentation. Both lawmakers played key roles in the Illinois legislature’s passage of the appropriation in the recently completed session.

“We couldn’t have done it without their vision and perseverance, particularly from State Sen. Hunter,” Collens said. “This new biomedical facility will not only offer important research opportunities for IIT—it will create jobs and significantly impact the economic development of our surrounding community and the city as a whole by providing much-needed lab space for start-up biomedical companies.”

The new facility will total 6,000 square feet on the north end of a three-building complex located at 35th and Dearborn Streets. The project is part of the Illinois VentureTECH Program and once built will house a consortium of institutions working on research from countering bioterrorism to drug development.

This latest phase is part of an overall $35 million complex, funded by the state of Illinois, the city of Chicago and IIT. When fully completed, it will provide 150,000 square feet of high quality biomedical company space and labs and is expected to bring nearly $20 million in new federal and corporate contracts to Illinois.

“I am pleased to present IIT with $5 million in state funding to further expand its biomedical research complex,” said Sen. Hunter. “The money directly supports the goals we have for the South Side – to build a sustainable economic base and provide jobs, education and technology. Connecting a research institution like IIT with a new based for economic development base benefits us all.”

Founded in 1890, IIT is a Ph.D.-granting technological university awarding degrees in the sciences, mathematics and engineering, as well as architecture, psychology, design, business and law. IIT’s interprofessional, technology-focused curriculum prepares the university’s 6,200 students for leadership roles in an increasingly complex and culturally diverse global workplace.