Iowa State Research Park receives $1.7 million grant

Iowa+State+plans+to+continue+economic+engagement+at+the+Iowa+State+Research+Park.

Max Goldberg/Iowa State Daily

Iowa State plans to continue economic engagement at the Iowa State Research Park.

Annelise Wells

Iowa State University’s Research Park will receive a $1.7 million grant to support a manufacturing test lab, the U.S Department of Commerce announced on Thursday.

The grant will be given by the United States Economic Development Administration (EDA) to make improvements to the park’s infrastructure, so it can support a manufacturing test lab facility, according to the press release.

“This grant furthers the important work being done there,” said Gov. Kim Reynolds in a press release. “It also highlights two sources of pride for our state: manufacturing, our largest and fastest growing industry, and our public universities, which leverage more than $1 billion in research and development funding each year.”

According to grantee estimates, the press release said “the project is expected to create over 450 jobs and generate $10 million in private investment.”

“Iowa State’s Research Park is truly a center of excellence,” Reynolds said in the press release. “It’s a place where industry members learn best practices from one another and pilot and scale-up new technology.”

The grant will allow a U.S manufacturer to host it’s test lab within Iowa State’s Research Park as well as provide jobs that are close to the university.