New MSU Food Processing Center to Help Companies Expand

Michigan State University (MSU) expects to initiate construction of a new, $8 million food processing center this Fall, allowing “second-stage” companies to perform tests on new products and markets prior to investing in expansion, Crain’s Detroit Business reported Sunday.

The Food Processing and Innovation Center, part of the university’s Product Center, will be located in an East Lansing, MI business park and is designed to meet federal and state food-processing standards, Crain’s reported, and permit companies to lease space and produce products there.

The center’s senior project director, Matthew Birbeck, told Crain’s that the facility’s ground breaking depends on the approval of an additional $1.6 million in funding requested from MSU’s trustees.

Birbeck said that the facility will likely be the the sole fully-licensed food processing facility of its kind affiliated with an American university. Companies are intended to lease and use space at the university’s facility to test equipment, processes and other production-oriented needs.

“The idea is that once you’ve proved your (product) is successful in the marketplace, you go back to your facility with all the knowledge and a list of equipment you’ll need,” Birbeck told Crain’s.