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UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

Research Park

    Research Park

    News Research Park

    Booming UI Research Park Running Into Potential Growing Pains

    If counted as a company, the Research Park is now the third largest employer in the county, falling just behind Carle Hospital and the University of Illinois, The News-Gazette reported in its Sunday edition. Employment at the park is up 17 percent since 2016, with more than 2,000 employees at the numerous companies the park is home to. “In the last five years, the Research Park grew at a faster clip than ever before with new building after new building,” said Research Park Director, Laura Frerichs. The Fox/Atkins Mixed Use building, which was just completed right before the new year in December, is already 75 percent full, with recent grand openings of Monsanto, Brunswick, and Synchrony Financial filling up the space, with more companies to join. Additionally, the Mixed Use buidling will be the first Research Park building to offer retail spaces. As the Research Park grows, organizers are looking to make the park more than just an office park, with restaurants and shopping available to do outside of work, which would provide food options right in the park to employees, such as University students who might not have a car. According to Frerichs, while the park doesn’t know who these retailers will be yet, there are local restaurants who are looking at the park as an additional location to serve their customers. The Research Park continues to expand so quickly, it is facing some growing pains. The feed mill, a University research facility, is located a block south from the I Hotel and Conference Center, which is not an ideal location for the expanding park. However, Research Park developer, Peter Fox, has hired an engineering consultant to begin working on a plan that would build a new feed mill, to be located near Curtis Road and Race Street in Urbana. Read this full story at the News-Gazette.

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    News Partnerships & Acquisitions Research Park

    Monsanto Opens Innovation Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

    Champaign, Illinois (February 1, 2018) – The University of Illinois today announced that Monsanto (NYSE: MON), a global agriculture company headquartered in St. Louis, and The Climate Corporation, a subsidiary of Monsanto, have opened the Monsanto Innovation Center at the University of Illinois Research Park. When fully staffed, the Monsanto Innovation Center will employ more than two dozen students who will enhance and augment a robust agricultural innovation portfolio with additional enabling capabilities like IT, data science and engineering. Students will focus on cutting-edge, real-world, social, scientific challenges in areas like advanced analytics, operations research, phenomics, genomics, plant science and precision breeding technologies. The center will employ students who are studying disciplines such as electrical engineering, UX design, mechanical engineering, software engineering and imaging sensor science. The Center will use digital tools and data to drive agricultural innovations which increase efficiency and reduce the amount of water, land, and energy necessary to meet the world’s food, fuel and fiber needs. “At Monsanto, we are a company built on innovation. We believe connecting new talent and ideas accelerates the discovery needed to feed and sustain our world,” said Mike Graham, vice president of Global Plant Breeding. “The Monsanto Innovation Center will cultivate future scientists who have the opportunity to shape how data science is applied to modern agriculture.” “Continued advancement of research and educational programs at leading universities is essential to the future success of modern agriculture. Additionally, it’s critical we support the training and development of the next generation so they can apply their education and implement new technologies to help solve agricultural challenges,” said Sam Eathington, chief science officer at The Climate Corporation. “It’s for this reason we have invested in the new innovation center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, to help deliver on this promise.” The Center has hired both graduate and undergraduate students from across campus, representing at least four different colleges and multiple disciplines. It is focused on fostering a collaborative, entrepreneurial and solution-based framework where students will engage with innovative projects designed to help facilitate professional development. “The Monsanto Innovation Center at Research Park represents the next frontier of a relationship that spans decades,” said University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign chancellor Robert J. Jones. “Tapping into the talent base of our students is a win-win. For them, getting to address some of the complex problems facing society is part of the fabric of what it means to get an Illinois education.” The Center opens with seven highly-skilled student interns. It will continue to recruit top University talent to fill roles as additional projects come to fruition. “Monsanto and the University of Illinois have deep ties thanks to a long-lasting, strong relationship. We anticipate that will only continue thanks to this unique opportunity to grow a footprint directly on campus in the Research Park,” said Blake Giles, site director of the new Monsanto Innovation Center.About Monsanto Company Monsanto is committed to bringing a broad range of solutions to help nourish our growing world. We produce seeds for fruits, vegetables and key crops – such as corn, soybeans, and cotton – that help farmers have better harvests while using water and other important resources more efficiently. We work to find sustainable solutions for soil health, help farmers use data to improve farming practices and conserve natural resources, and provide crop protection products to minimize damage from pests and disease. Through programs and partnerships, we collaborate with farmers, researchers, nonprofit organizations, universities and others to help tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges. To learn more about Monsanto, our commitments and our more than 20,000 dedicated employees, please visit monsanto.com. Follow our business on Twitter® at twitter.com/MonsantoCo. About The Climate Corporation The Climate Corporation, a subsidiary of Monsanto Company, aims to help all the world’s farmers sustainably increase their productivity through the use of digital tools. The integrated Climate FieldView™ digital agriculture platform provides farmers with a comprehensive, connected suite of digital tools. Bringing together seamless field data collection, advanced agronomic modeling and local weather monitoring into simple mobile and web software solutions, the Climate FieldView platform gives farmers a deeper understanding of their fields so they can make more informed operating decisions to optimize yields, maximize efficiency and reduce risk. For more information, please visit www.climate.com and follow the company on Twitter @climatecorp. Read about the Monsanto Grand Opening In the Press: Feedstuffs The Daily Illini AgDaily News Business Wire Watch a video of the Ribbon Cutting 

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    Events News Research Park

    Brunswick Officially Opens Illini Joint Explorations in Technology Lab

    Brunswick is first company to move into Research Park’s new Mixed Use Building at 1904 S. First Street, Champaign Brunswick Corporation (NYSE: BC) recently celebrated the grand opening of new quarters for what has been known as the Brunswick Innovation Laboratory in Research Park at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. But with its new building, the lab also now has a new name – the Brunswick I-JET Lab. Inspired by the students and the staff who work there, the facility’s new name incorporates the acronym for Brunswick Illini – Joint Explorations in Technology lab. The new name fits with the changing times and the Company’s evolving business model, explained Brunswick Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mark Schwabero, who led a contingent of the firm’s top executives who attended the event. “Brunswick will mark its 175th year in business in 2020,” Schwabero noted.  “You don’t stay in business that long without being innovative, agile and resilient.  Technology and innovation have always been important to us, and never more so than today as we see consumers desiring even more in the way of features and connectivity in both marine and fitness.” “It also is fitting that ‘Illini’ has a prominent position in our facility’s new name,” explained Brunswick Chief Technology Officer David Foulkes.  “Obviously, the close ties to the University of Illinois, with its resources, staff and gifted students, are truly unique. These strengths, along with those of other companies within the park, offer an atmosphere conducive to collaboration and learning. “Further, the ‘JET’ portion of the name aptly describes the urgency and energy with which those at the Brunswick I-JET Lab approach their duties and responsibilities,” Foulkes said. Foulkes pointed out that research and development is a continuous effort throughout Brunswick to drive innovation.  These efforts have been solidly productive as the Company continues to outpace its competition in the introduction of new products to market as well as securing patents on its technologies and features.  In 2016, Brunswick ranked among the top 25 Illinois-based companies in securing patents. The Brunswick I-JET Lab works closely with Brunswick corporate and divisional resources to further accelerate Brunswick’s progress in areas of high interest, including the Internet of Things, advanced analytics, and a range of human-machine interaction and enhanced user-experience technologies. More than 100 companies, including industry leaders such as Abbott, John Deere and Yahoo, have facilities within the 200-acre research park, which is adjacent to the university’s campus. “It feels good to have a place to call home,” Schwabero concluded.  “Our name is on the building and on the door, but what truly excites us is the work that is being done inside by the talented and dedicated researchers and students.” The newly constructed building is at 1904 South First Street.   Beginning last April, the Brunswick I-JET Lab had occupied temporary quarters. Brunswick is the first company in the Research Park’s new growth facility to mark such an event. (SOURCE: BRUNSWICK)

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    News Research Park

    Research Park Occupancy Reaches All Time High

    This year, Research Park occupancy reached an all-time high at a staggering 97 percent. With the welcoming of more agricultural, financial services, and global companies, collaboration between innovative businesses, students and faculty have never been greater. Research Park is now home to 110+ companies and employs more than 600 student interns. Laura Freichs comments on the increase of financial service insurance trading companies, or “FinTech” companies in Research Park, explaining, “I think that most people assume that companies like Google, Microsoft or Facebook are top employers, but one of the trends that we’re starting to see is an opportunity for FinTech companies to offer very exciting jobs.” FinTech company Country Financial opened their DigitaLab this year to develop mobile applications that enhance the customer experience and create brand awareness. Research Park has also welcomed new AgTech companies, such as AGCO, Syngenta, and Indigo Ag. Laura Freichs states that “The worlds of agriculture and technology have melded together, so you see a lot of the ag companies needing both agronomy expertise and technology expertise.” This year, Research Park has also welcomed Huawei, a global information and communication technology company based in Shenzhen, China to collaborate with students, scholars and researchers in exploring innovations in software technology. Research Park’s occupancy growth does not end there. On December 11, 2017, Brunswick Corporation, will have their grand opening, and Synchrony Financial, a credit card issuer to many retailers, will also have its opening soon. With occupancy growth comes architectural growth. In order to keep up with interest in the park, Research Park is opening two new buildings, the Mixed Use Building and the TDFV IV Building. This way, occupancy can continue to grow and companies can continue to foster Illinois’ top tech talent. Read the full story on the Daily Illini.

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    News Partnerships & Acquisitions Research Park

    COUNTRY Financial Partners with University of Illinois to Foster Technology Innovation

    Champaign, Ill. – Nov. 3, 2017 – COUNTRY Financial is investing in student research with an eye on the technological needs of the future. The insurance and financial services company opened a digital innovation lab in the Research Park at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign this fall. The DigitaLab has been established by the COUNTRY Financial Information Technology Services (ITS) Department to develop and innovate digital projects, with an emphasis on mobile app development. “With a top-five ranked engineering and computer science program, the U of I is a perfect partner as we grow our digital skills and reach out to new talent,” said Kurt Bock, Chief Executive Officer at COUNTRY Financial. The University of Illinois Research Park, which connects private industry with faculty researchers and students, has more than 110 resident companies including leading corporations and deep-tech startups. “COUNTRY Financial’s interests match many strengths of our campus, from agriculture to finance to computing,” said University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign chancellor Robert Jones. “The new DigitaLab will provide even more experiential learning opportunities for our students.” Putting a team in place Full-time site manager Julia Hart was named in September to lead the efforts at the DigitaLab, which has 2,600 square feet of work space. She will supervise 10-12 students who will work in the lab at U of I and act as the liaison to the University and other COUNTRY employees. A bright future Recruitment efforts are underway to find students who will be on the front lines of application development and enhancement. “The DigitaLab will help us explore new ways of working but also provide a growth opportunity for students just beginning their careers.” Brad Hildestad, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer at COUNTRY Financial. “It’s an exciting environment to experiment with our digital capabilities understand what we can do and iterate further. We can’t wait to get started.” About COUNTRY Financial®            COUNTRY Financial® (countryfinancial.com) serves about one million households and businesses throughout the United States. It offers a wide range of financial products and services from auto, home, business, farm and life insurance to retirement planning services, investment management and annuities. Find news coverage of this event here and here.  View photographs from the event here.  

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    News Research Park

    Indigo Agriculture, Boston’s “Unicorn Startup,” to open office in Research Park

    September 29, 2017: Indigo Agriculture, an ag-tech startup that began in Massachusetts, is opening an office in Research Park to add to the growing number of ag-tech companies in the park. Indigo Agriculture treats the seeds of America’s most important cash crops so they become more disease resistant. It treats the seeds with a combination of naturally occuring bacteria and fungi that are already found in plants. This treatment makes it so that farmers have a better chance at producing disease-free crops that can ward off the harmful effects of drought, poor soil, and pestilence. Investor enthusiasm is growing fast, as the company announced on Tuesday that it had raised $156 million, giving the company a valuation of $1.4 billion. To read the full story, click here.

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    News Research Park

    Agrible Raises $9.7m of $15.7m for Series B Funding

    Agrible, an agtech startup located in the Research Park, has raised $9.7 million out of a $15.7 million Series B round of funding. Investors include Maumee Ventures of the Andersons Grain handling company, Flyover Capital, Archer Daniels Midland, Serra Ventures, and a new investor, iSelect Fund, which is a venture capital fund for high net worth investors in the MidWest.  Agrible plans to use some of the Series B funding to increase the number of integrations with third party providers that are looking to be incorporated into Agrible’s platform of products and services. Current integrations include MyJohnDeere, a tool called DriftWatch that measures environmental impact, satellite imagery startup AstroDigital, CropCopter, and more. Additionally, the funding will go toward scaling the company’s goal of sustainablity. Cynthia Bruno, chief strategy officer at Agrible, believes that this Series B round of funding proves that Agrible is a leader in the agtech industry at working to create a sustainable supply chain. Since 2007, Agrible has been making strides in the farming and agriculture community and working toward the goal of increasing food production by 60% by 2050. Founders Bill Northcott, Chris Harbourt, and Paul Miller met in 1997 while working toward higher degrees at the University of Illinois. The three of them realized they had some ideas that were a little too advanced for the technology of the time period, and they would need some help reaching their goals and achieving their dream. In 2013, Agrible opened an office at the EnterpriseWorks incubator where they had more access to resources that were needed to bring their products to fruition. With the help of resources available at the Park and at the University, Agrible launched its first product, Morning Farm Report, and made connections in the community with growers and other Research Park companies. Venture capital firm Serra Ventures is also located in the University of Illinois Research Park. Find updates to the story here.

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    News Partnerships & Acquisitions Research Park

    Granular Acquired by DuPont in Efforts to Help Farmers Run More Profitable Businesses

    August 9, 2017: DuPont, a world-renowned science and engineering company that focuses on agriculture and nutrition, advanced materials, and bio-based industrials, has aquired Granular, a San Francisco agriculture software company that has its regional headquarters at the University of Illinois Research Park. The purpose behind this aquirement is primarily to accelerate the digital agriculture strategy, which will lead to farmers running more profitable businesses. Since being founded in 2014, Granular has made its mark on the agriculture industry as a company that makes it easier for farmers to manage a large farm and use pinpointed data to make calculated and accurate business decisions. In addition, Granular operates AcreValue.com, which is currently the leading digital marketplace for farmland real estate. Sid Gorham, Granular’s co-founder and CEO, will continue as the the leader of Granular, as well as the new leader for Digital Agriculture for DuPont. This will include responsibility for Encirca services, which is DuPont’s agronomic software business. This aquisition will connect growers, analytics, and public and private data, which will enhance Granular and DuPont’s mutual dream of a more digitally connected and sustainable agriculture industry. James C. Collins, DuPont’s Executive Vice President, said “This aquistion is an important component of our commitment to leading and shaping the agtech market.” Delivering more value to growers throughout the world is a vision that has been shared by Granular and DuPont, even before aquistion. “We started Granular to make an big impact on the business of farming” said Sid Gorhman.  “I am confident that as a part of DuPont we will make a bigger impact even faster. Dupont shares our vision for using technology to help farms improve their dollar yield, not just their bushel yield. We are excited to pursue that vision together.” Granular will continue to maintain its office in the Research Park. To read the full press release, click here.

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    News Recognition & Awards Research Park

    Oath (Yahoo) at the Research Park Leads $1 Million Donation to Local Champaign-Urbana Charities

    The Yahoo Employee Foundation (YEF) will award nearly a million dollars in grant money to three local not-for profits at a brief ceremony this Wednesday July 12 beginning at 12:30pm on the Oath (Yahoo) campus 1908 S. First Street in Champaign. Habitat for Humanity of Champaign County, Don Moyer Boys & Girls Club, and the Eastern Illinois Foodbank will each receive checks for $320,000 from YEF based on the strong partnerships and high program impact from previous YEF funding. Champaign, IL  The Yahoo Employee Foundation (YEF) will award nearly a million dollars in grant money to three local not-for profits at a brief ceremony this Wednesday July 12 beginning at 12:30pm on the Yahoo campus 1908 S. First Street in Champaign. Habitat for Humanity of Champaign County, Don Moyer Boys & Girls Club, and the Eastern Illinois Foodbank will each receive checks for $320,000 from YEF based on the strong partnerships and high program impact from previous YEF funding. Through YEF, Yahoo employees have been able to champion important causes and impact organizations around the world. Since 2000, YEF awarded over $35 million through more than 1,200 grants to organizations chosen by Yahoo employees. With the acquisition of Yahoo by Verizon, YEF will be distributing the balance of remaining funds, including the three local organizations selected by their effective use of YEF funding in previous funding cycles. Sheila Dodd, of Habitat for Humanity, Sam Banks, of Don Moyer Boys & Girls Club, and Jim Hires, President and CEO of the Eastern Illinois Foodbank will be on hand Wednesday to receive the funds and provide acknowledgements for these generous donations.

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