In honor of Bioscience Month in Nebraska, The Nebraska Examiner recently published an op-ed written by Executive Director Rob Owen, discussing Nebraska’s biggest economic opportunity: the bioscience industry.
An excerpt:
Nebraska has the ingredients to build a stronger bioeconomy. The opportunity now is to turn those assets into a focused strategy for growth.
Across Nebraska, the biosciences are already at work in human and animal health, agriculture, renewable fuels, biomanufacturing, medical technology and research. The University of Nebraska Medical Center anchors a nationally significant medical and research ecosystem. Nebraska’s corn and soybeans can become higher-value products, from biobased plastics to enzymes and Omega-3. Blair is home to major industrial biomanufacturing operations. Five of the world’s 12 largest animal health companies have facilities here.
These are Nebraska assets that offer nationally important capabilities in industries that will shape how America produces food, improves health, manufactures materials and competes globally.
The question is how Nebraska turns these strengths into more companies, investment and high-quality jobs.
Bio Nebraska, the state’s bioscience trade association, represents more than 125 companies and institutions working across this ecosystem. Earlier this year, we partnered with the Nebraska Corn Board on an assessment of Nebraska’s bioeconomy. We want to move the conversation from what Nebraska has to a more practical question: What does Nebraska need to do next to grow its bioeconomy?
The study began by asking whether Nebraska needs an industrial biomanufacturing pilot facility. Its conclusion is instructive. A new general-purpose facility is not the first move Nebraska should make. Existing national capacity is underused, and Nebraska can gain more by strengthening industry relationships, better using existing facilities and directing investment toward areas where the state has a genuine competitive advantage.
That finding points toward a larger opportunity: Nebraska needs a statewide bioscience and bioeconomy strategy.