PEORIA, Ill. – Located in the heart of Illinois and the Midwestern Corn Belt, the Greater Peoria, Ill., area is rich in agricultural, employment, education, transportation and logistical resources. A recent showcase hosted by small business incubator Peoria NEXT Innovation Center was aimed at creating awareness in increasing the profitability of regional agriculture products by shifting from traditional utilizations (such as food, feed, and fuel) to include bioproducts and biomanufacturing.

“(The June 11 event) provided a great introduction to key resources all aimed at increasing the profitability of agriculture products,” said Kathie Brown, director of rural outreach and development for the Greater Peoria Economic Development Council. “Dr. Dave Demerjian, founder and CEO of Midwest Bioprocessing Center (MBC), provided a wonderful example of this pivot occurring in the fermentation industry. Working in partnership with Dr. Dave Compton, scientist at the USDA’s National Center for Agricultural Utilization and Research (NCAUR) they have ARS-developed technology (that) makes it an easy-to-formulate and effective sun protection factor (SPF) booster and photo protector for commonly used ultraviolet-sensitive ingredients, such as vitamin C and vitamin E.”

Demirjian said the products, which contain MBC’s patented FeruliShield, are reducing or replacing some commercial petroleum-based ultraviolet absorbers in personal care products and were shown to perform equally well as UV absorbers, if not better, than their petroleum-based counterparts. FeruliShield is based on the ferulic acids found in most plants, which are bound to soybean oil and other oils to formulate the product.

Demerjian told the group of local entrepreneurs in attendance that MBC is also currently working to develop new, healthier sugars and derivatives for public consumption using federally funded research dollars. These new sugar products have the potential to help prevent infections and can be used in anticancer drugs and intermediates.

“Xylitol, which we developed with our collaborative partner 2uChem, has an $800 million market in Asia and Europe, where it is used in gum and candies as well as mouthwashes and toothpaste,” Demirjian said. “But you can’t find it here; the reason for that is because you can’t make enough for the U.S. market. You need a very specific feedstock. In China you need corn cobs to make it, and in Europe you need birch tree extracts that have been processed for the paper and pulp industry.”

MBC is working with the USDA to identify alternate, homegrown feedstocks that can produce the pure, crystalline xylos sugar needed to create Xylitol. MBC researchers have also developed a fermentation process that utilizes a mixed sugar stream – rather than a chemical process – from corn fiber and “almost any feedstock out there” to produce Xylitol in high yields.

“This is transformative. We think this is going to take over the industry in terms of production of Xylitol because this process will cost less than half of the chemical process costs to produce Xylitol,” Demirjian said.

While MBC – which got its start at the Peoria NEXT Innovation Center and is now an “anchor” tenant in the building – remains busy preparing for major domestic distribution of Xylitol, the bioprocessing company is also ready to ramp up production of Xylitol in China. In July, a newly constructed fermentation facility built around Xylitol production will go online capable of turning out around 6,000 tons of the product per year.

Beth Conerty, associate director of business development for the University of Illinois Integrated Bioprocessing Research Laboratory (IBRL) and regional innovation officer for the Illinois Fermentation and Agriculture Biomanufacturing Hub (iFAB), was also on hand to update the Peoria-area strategic partners, including nearby Bradley University, on iFAB’s work in advancing local agriculture and industry.

“I’m biased, but I think central Illinois is the best place for biomanufacturing,” said Conerty, who joined IBRL in 2017 as business development manager after attending the U of I. “We have all of the feedstocks, so not only the soybean oil but also dextrose. We have a top research university in the University of Illinois, and we have an existing bioprocessing industry. We have intermodal transportation (advantages). This is why we are building out our lab-to-line approach, so everything from (IBRL) driving new technologies through the manufacturing line are all within a radius of 51 square miles.”

iFAB was designated as one of 31 Regional Innovation and Technology Hubs by the U.S. Economic Development Administration in October 2023. As such, iFAB research project proposals totaling $70 million have been submitted for possible federal funding, according to Conerty.

“Now that we are through our application period we are expecting an announcement within the next three weeks,” she said. “We have (proposed) four construction projects. We need to build more fermentation tanks and infrastructure to keep companies here. We also have a lot of entrepreneurship support (proposals) and workforce development (projects) in partnership with community colleges and labor organizations.”

Conerty concluded by saying that since the federal Tech Hub designation last fall, applications for rental space by ag-tech startups and established businesses have increased dramatically. She sees the spike in interest as a good sign for the future for Illinois ag-tech entrepreneurs like some of those working out of the Peoria NEXT Innovation Center.

“I think coastal bio-manufacturing companies are starting to realize that they are never going to build manufacturing on the west coast and are looking to the Midwest. We think (the designation) was well timed with this push and we hope to capture it all here in central Illinois,” she said.

The meeting was part of a planned series of “purposeful collisions” between ag-tech entrepreneurs, business and civic leaders in the Greater Peoria area created by AgTech Connect.