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CLIB2021 North America office opened
Germany’s Cluster for Industrial Biotechnology (CLIB2021) today opened its North American office in Drayton Valley, Alberta, Canada. This is the next step in getting closer to CLIB’s North American partners in science and technology. “It demonstrates the priority of German-North American partnering in our strategy,” says CLIB2021 chairman, Manfred Kircher.
The Cluster is currently working on R&D projects with partners in Alberta and Saskatchewan as well as Georgia and Iowa in the United States. A partnering project with the University of Alberta looking at the chemical possibilities of renewable feedstocks in the Drayton Valley area is already underway.
It’s hoped Drayton Valley will become an exceptional example of how to combine Alberta’s renewable resources, Canadian and German excellence in science and technology and biochemical production in both countries. CLIB2021 appreciates the opportunity to open its North American office in this forward looking community.
Drayton Valley has been working to attract innovative new businesses to an area of the town which has been named the Bio-Mile. The aim is to make the community a centre of excellence in the bio industry. The arrival of CLIB’s head office is seen as a significant step toward that goal.
“This is an exciting day for Drayton Valley,” said Mayor Moe Hamdon. “We’re delighted to be working with a group like CLIB which has such tremendous expertise in the field of bio technology.”
CLIB2021 is an association with more than 70 members from Academia, SME and chemical industry - amongst them Altana, Bayer MaterialScience, Bayer Technology Services, Cognis, Evonik Industries, Henkel and Lanxess - founded in Duesseldorf, Germany in 2007. The cluster was awarded the first price and a public sponsorship for the promotion of biotechnological science worth EUR 20 millions in a competition of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in 2007. Since 2008, R&D-Projects in the field of industrial biotechnology with a volume of EUR 50 million were initiated. CLIB2021 is sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV) and the Ministry of Innovation, Science, Research and Technology of the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia (MIWFT).
Drayton Valley (Canada) sits at the heart of the Pembina oilfield. The area is a rich source of crude oil and natural gas and also has strong forestry and agriculture industries. Recently Drayton Valley has become a centre for the emerging bio-economy. The town and the provincial government are pursuing the establishment of a raw material platform for industrial biotechnology based on renewable resources. It’s anticipated that this will lead to the construction of production facilities and a development centre.
Contact: Cluster Industrielle Biotechnologie e.V.
e-Mail. info@CLIB2021.de / web: www.CLIB2021.com / Tel.: +49 - 211 – 67 931 41