ADM Celebrates Opening of New Food Business Incubator that Seeks to Spur Innovation, Expand Economic Opportunity in Central Illinois
Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE: ADM) today celebrated the grand opening of the new headquarters of National Foodworks Services LLC, a local food innovation center in Decatur, Ill., funded in part by ADM and founded by local entrepreneurs Jim Milano and Tony Caccomo.
As a food-business incubator, NFS aims to usher in a new wave of opportunity for entrepreneurs and the community-at-large. Working together, ADM and NFS are able to offer resources, expertise and facilities needed to help customers and third parties innovate to address changing consumer preferences.
“ADM has one of the broadest ingredient portfolios in the food and beverage industry, exceptional research and development capabilities, deep experience in product commercialization, and an unparalleled logistics network,” said ADM Chairman and CEO Juan Luciano. “Our friends at NFS, meanwhile, are well-versed in helping smaller entrepreneurs bring bold new ideas to market. Together, we can help make Central Illinois a prominent new center for food innovation, in the process spurring economic growth in our region.”
To that end, ADM announced the launch of the Food Innovation Challenge, designed to inspire more entrepreneurs to develop and commercialize their innovations in Decatur. The Food Innovation Challenge will help connect entrepreneurs with industry experts and investors, and the First Place Grand Prize Winner will receive $50,000 in seed funding and an additional $50,000 of in-kind services from NFS for marketing, production and commercialization assistance. Additional details are available at www.foodinnovationchallenge.com.
ADM invested $2 million to help NFS develop a 40,000-square-foot manufacturing complex at the former Brush College School in Decatur, adjacent to ADM’s James R. Randall Research Center.
About ADM
For more than a century, the people of Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE: ADM) have transformed crops into products that serve the vital needs of a growing world. Today, we’re one of the world’s largest agricultural processors and food ingredient providers, with more than 32,300 employees serving customers in more than 160 countries. With a global value chain that includes 428 crop procurement locations, 280 ingredient manufacturing facilities, 39 innovation centers and the world’s premier crop transportation network, we connect the harvest to the home, making products for food, animal feed, industrial and energy uses. Learn more at www.adm.com.
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Archer Daniels Midland Company
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Jackie Anderson
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media@adm.com
