Manufacturing Innovation Training Center planned for 16 Tech
Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
Indianapolis-based 16 Tech Community Corp. and Ivy Tech Community College are partnering to create a biopharmaceutical training center at the 16 Tech Innovation District.
Supported by Eli Lilly and Co., the Ivy Tech Manufacturing Innovation Training Center is designed to attract and prepare diverse talent for careers in advanced manufacturing, with an emphasis on pharmaceutical manufacturing.
“This is something that we started working on collaboratively with Ivy Tech in the summer of 2021, and it directly connects to a longer term vision for 16 Tech to be a place that has resources that also support on ramps to careers and pathways in advanced industries,” said 16 Tech CEO Emily Krueger.
Krueger told Inside INdiana Business the center will serve as the first formal training program at 16 Tech.
“Specifically, the project will include automation and training systems that support a wide variety of applications at Eli Lilly…and so it will support biopharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities, but but also other industries,” she said. “One of the really important things to know is that this is a first step in a much broader overarching strategy to support the biopharmaceutical manufacturing and biotech ecosystem in Indiana.”
The partners say the training center will also serve as a work and learning hub for Lilly Scholars–students at Ivy Tech who intend to pursue a career in pharmaceutical manufacturing after earning a certificate or associate’s degree in fields such as industrial technology or smart manufacturing and digital integration.
“Ivy Tech is in a partnership with Eli Lilly through 2028, and their goal is to utilize training and services from Ivy Tech Community College to support the potential students that will become their potential employees,” said Stacy Atkinson, chancellor of the Ivy Tech Indianapolis campus. “So, 16 Tech will be the home of the Smart Manufacturing and Digital Integration program, which will train the future Eli Lilly operators.”
Krueger emphasized that the lab is just the start of what could be an even greater biotech presence.
16 Tech is part of a coalition known as Heartland Bioworks, which was awarded a regional technology and innovation hub designation by the federal Economic Development Administration last October.
Heartland Bioworks is currently competing for up to $75 million in funding that could expand efforts at the innovation district.
“If successful, that funding opportunity will result in an additional facility in 16 Tech to be the headquarters of the Bioworks HQ initiative,” Krueger said. “And that will include additional training resources to support the broader biopharmaceutical manufacturing and biotech ecosystems.”
Another key component to establishing the training center at 16 Tech, according to Krueger, is locating it within a historic neighborhood in the city’s urban core.
“It is part of a much broader, long-term intentional and thoughtful strategy to ensure that there are opportunities to jobs in advanced industries for diverse populations,” she said. “And at the same time, it creates benefit for the employers and companies who are in the district who are looking to fill pipelines where there are shortages of talent right now.”
The lab is currently being equipped with state-of-the-art integrated training systems from Jeffersonville-based Amatrol, which will allow the lab to be fully automated, 16 Tech said.
The lab is expected to open this summer in the Emerging Manufacturing Collaboration Center at 16 Tech.