Iowa State Bioscience Platforms
The State of Iowa formally asserted its commitment to being a leader in Biosciences when the Iowa Economic Development Authority released its November 2017 analysis from TEConomy Partners, LLC.
That analysis indicated Iowa has unique advantages that translate into tremendous opportunities for growing and diversifying its economy through the Biosciences. First, the category consistently outperforms Iowa’s overall private sector growth; second, Bioscience-related employment in the state is 36% above national levels; and third, there is enormous potential for further growth while providing high-paying jobs (average salaries of $68,000 for the Biosciences sector, versus $42,000 for all private-sector jobs).
The TEConomy analysis identified four key Bioscience areas of opportunity for the state: Biobased Products; Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics; Digital and Precision Agriculture; and Medical Devices. Iowa State has significant advantages in research infrastructure and expertise in the first three platforms. Together, with BioConnect Iowa, the university is leveraging these strengths to build leading-edge innovation ecosystems to accelerate discovery and transfer of new technologies within each of the three platforms.
