Bio-Mile secures $1 million in funding

May 7, 2010, Drayton Valley, AB – The Bioeconomy Incubation Office for Applied
Research and Commercialization Centre (BIO-ARCC), a key part of Drayton
Valley’s Bio-Mile, has received a grant of $1 million from Rural Alberta’s
Development Fund. The Bio-Mile aims to be Alberta’s first fully integrated
bio-industrial business park. As a key component of the project, the BIO-ARCC
is a not-for-profit, solutions-oriented centre of excellence for business
incubation, skills development and training, applied research, and
commercialization, which will offer a number of services to the innovative
bio-based businesses in Alberta. Working with partners in industry, academia,
and government, BIO-ARCC will support and advance sustainable bio-industrial
initiatives based on forestry, agriculture, and other resources. This will
create new employment opportunities in the community and develop the
value-added products of tomorrow.

“This
is an important project because it advances economic development and
diversification in Drayton Valley and in the province as a whole,” says Diana
McQueen, MLA for Drayton Valley/Calmar. “I’m delighted to see it moving
forward.”

The
creation of BIO-ARCC is expected to bring a number of highly skilled jobs to
the Drayton Valley area. It’s also expected to lead to the development of a
specialized knowledge-based resource for the bio-industry in Alberta and serve
as a model that can be adapted by other communities across the province.
Development is still at an early stage, but the RADF funding means work on the
BIO-ARCC can now begin in earnest.