Spiber, Inc. has chosen Clinton, IA for its first U.S. facility

As you know, we are thrilled that Japanese biotech company Spiber, Inc. has chosen Clinton, IA for its first U.S. facility. The Spiber team is very excited about visiting Clinton again soon, but in the meanwhile, they are sharing some information with us regarding their innovative technology and their enthusiasm towards joining the Clinton community.

Here is an excerpt from an interview with (Ms.) Ayana Nakajima and Daniel Meyer, President of Spiber America LLC.

How would you describe Spiber’s technology and its significance for people who are not experts in your field?

Brewed Protein™ materials are the protein fibers, films, and other types of materials manufactured through Spiberʼs proprietary fermentation (brewing) process. Importantly, this production process utilizes microbes and plant-derived sugars rather than petrochemical or animal-derived raw materials. Through an iterative optimization process that begins at the molecular level, Brewed Protein™ materials can be tailored to suit the needs of various applications for a wide range of industries. In other words, we have countless possibilities to explore different properties and applications, which could eventually contribute to a more environmentally-conscious society by making these novel materials more accessible.

Why did Spiber, Inc. choose Clinton, IA?

We built our first commercial production facility in Thailand that caught the eye of ADM, which is very plugged into the biotech industry. They came and visited our facilities in Japan and told us about some of their existing fermentation facilities. We partnered with them first in 2019, after which we did some collaborative testing and evaluation of our process on their equipment. ADM’s Clinton bio facility has a good mix of the right equipment with the right specifications for our process. We visited Clinton Bio once in 2019 and then again in February 2020. It was then that we met some of the members of the Clinton Regional Development Corporation and Mayor Maddasion. We could immediately feel a friendly and welcoming atmosphere!

What is the most important thing or two that you want the Clinton community to know about your company?

We are extremely thrilled to bring our second commercial production plant to Clinton, Iowa, where our local partners have been supportive throughout this process. We are looking forward to working within the community as part of a big team and building a history of the next-gen bio-materials ‘Brewed Protein™’ here in Clinton!

The CRDC and the City of Clinton look forward to hosting an event with the community once our Spiber colleagues are able to visit us again. Until then, Happy Holidays!