By: Tony Millenbine
Champaign County is located in the center of the fertile triangle of east central Illinois between Chicago, St. Louis and Indianapolis. Its own major metro area consists of the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana, home to the University of Illinois, one of the world’s most renowned research institutions. Drawing the most gifted faculty and students from Illinois, across the United States, and hundreds of countries around the globe has made Champaign County a hub of international culture, with a solid base of diversified Midwestern economic activity that weathers the vagaries of the nation’s economic climate. There are currently over 180 high-tech companies locally, ranging from startups in gas chromatography, biotechnology and nanotechnology, to more established firms like Volition and Vesuvius, to Fortune 500 enterprises like Rockwell Automation, Flex-N-Gate and Amdocs.
The University of Illinois is the backbone of economic development to Champaign County, not only as the area’s top employer, but also because of its valuable resources. According to the most recently published statistics by the National Science Foundation, the University of Illinois was ranked 25th nationally for total R&D spending in science and engineering, with expenditures just over $476 million. Champaign County’s growing technology sector, in partnership with the University of Illinois’ personnel, and having ready access to its research and facilities, make this area a prime location for the development of alternative fuel sources – absolutely critical as oil prices continue to rise, along with public demand for technologies having greater energy efficiency.
But the University’s research partnerships extend beyond federal government agencies to private sector partnerships as well. British Petroleum is funding a $500 million dollar collaboration between the University of Illinois and the University of California/Berkeley to research biofuels. And other research and development is underway at the University of Illinois with the potential to save the U.S. billions of dollars in rising utility costs.
Strategically located adjacent to the Illinois campus is the University's Research Park. Construction on the Park began in 2000 and has since become home to over 80 companies, many of which are research based. Among the Park's current tenants are a number of young research companies on the brink of alternative fuel breakthroughs: Tetrivitae Bioscience is capturing the fermentation process of butanol. SmartSpark Energy Systems continues to make strides in its efforts to create scalable solar energy. Nuclear Plasma Laboratories & Associates, has developed the first hydrogen peroxide based fuel cell – an innovation whose applications are being tested by the United States military. And the colleges of Engineering and Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences are collaborating in a multidisciplinary competition to build an 800-square foot home powered entirely by solar energy that will be on display at the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Entrepreneurs and others who have received their education or started their companies in Champaign County are intimately familiar with its attributes. But quality of life, cost of living, and access to world-class research faculty, brilliant students, and cutting-edge scientific equipment has also attracted companies like Yahoo!, ADM, QualComm, State Farm, John Deere and Bayer.
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