State Board of Trustees Approve Lease
for Biotech Training Facility

August 11, 2006
Bloomington, IN

The Ivy Tech Community College State Board of Trustees on Thursday gave formal approval to a lease with the Monroe County Redevelopment Commission for use of College property to build a proposed $5 million biomanufacturing training institute. The lease amount is one-dollar per year.

The planned biomanufacturing and training institute will be located just north and east of the college's campus on property already acquired by Ivy Tech for expansion. The institute will respond to the education and training needs of the region's growing biotech and life sciences firms such as Cook, Cook Pharmica, BioConvergence, Baxter Pharmaceuticals and Boston Scientific in Owen County. The biomanufacturing and training institute will be financed by the Westside tax increment finance district which includes the Ivy Tech campus. A project team with representatives of the Monroe County Commissioners, Bloomington Life Sciences Partnership, Monroe County Redevelopment Commission, and Ivy Tech Community College will coordinate project activities.

In June, the Indiana Department of Workforce Development announced they would provide $1.25 million for training for entry-level and displaced workers plus advanced training for existing biotech and life-sciences workers.

The Bloomington Life Sciences Partnership projects that existing life sciences businesses will create 1,200 new jobs over the next five years in biotech and life sciences.