When the iFAB Tech Hub was first designated as a Regional Innovation and Technology Hub by the Economic Development Administration (EDA) in October of 2023, the team behind the scenes was just five people strong. Two years later, this same team of five (known as iFAB Leadership or, more colloquially, the “Fab 5”) has been methodically adding additional roles to the roster. Now, as of November 2025, iFAB’s hub management has doubled in size to a team of ten.
This team growth is necessary to keep the crucial work iFAB is doing in the region running smoothly. With 35 consortium members and 27 strategic partners (with more joining nearly every week), the scale of the hub and its collaborations are growing fast, requiring specialized roles that can focus on specific key areas. Since fall of 2024, hub management has hired a Program Lead for Infrastructure (Brian Jacobson), Communications Manager (Taylor Meredith), Director of Business Attraction (Lenora Fisher), and Administrative Program Manager (Brooke Gordon). The most recent and tenth addition to the team is the Business Specialist, filled by Illinois native, Lynzee Kraushaar.
“Joining the iFAB team has been such an exciting opportunity,” Kraushaar says. “Growing up in Illinois, specifically in a rural community, my life has always been surrounded by farmers and their work in the fields. Filling a role that encourages me to utilize my background in business to enhance ag technology is an opportunity I never thought I’d have.”
In addition to bioprocessing expansion projects (for IBRL, Primient, and ADM facilities), “iFAB Tech Hub Management” was approved for funding through the EDA’s Phase 2 Implementation Grant in July 2024. To now have filled all the roles initially proposed as part of the hub management team means that iFAB has crossed a huge item off its figurative to-do list.
“It has been a highlight of my University of Illinois experience to witness high caliber talent gather to manifest the iFAB vision,” says Kim Kidwell, member of iFAB Leadership and Associate Chancellor for Strategic Partnerships and Initiatives at University of Illinois. “What started with the dedicated efforts of a few amazing people has quickly grown into a team of ten determined individuals.”
All members of the iFAB hub management team have additional, complementary roles at member organizations across the region. Collectively, the iFAB team works at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in both the Research Park and the Integrated Bioprocessing Research Lab (IBRL), as well as both the Champaign County and Decatur & Macon County economic development corporations. These roles are significant, connecting the iFAB team with important resources, processes, and partnerships throughout the community that help iFAB thrive.
Kidwell points out that iFAB’s unique “lab to line” theme—which includes facets of agriculture, bioprocessing, transportation, economic development, government relations and more—has drawn in team members with diverse, complimentary skills. While not all team members are specialists in bioprocessing, for example, their specialties elsewhere help attract and communicate with the exact types of bioprocessing companies the hub wants working in the region.
“We’re changing the visibility and trajectory of the biomanufacturing industry in Central Illinois,” Kidwell says. To do that, a range of expertise is needed, as well as a commitment to the mission and the people who will be positively affected by it. “The entire hub management team is engaging in innovative work designed to improve lives and communities.”
Kraushaar agrees, saying that agriculture continues to have a large impact on her life at home and that she’s driven to leave her own mark on the industry. “It’s incredible to learn how much iFAB has grown and changed since its start in 2023,” she says. “I can’t wait to see how much it continues to grow in the future with a full team.”
Central Illinois is on track to become a global leader in precision fermentation and biomanufacturing, and the iFAB team is up to the challenge with its myriad of talents. As Kidwell concludes, “Excellence has gone viral across Team iFAB!”
See the full list of iFAB team members here.
Learn more about the beginnings of iFAB here.
