Background

The University of Nebraska Board of Regents approved creation of the Lndustrial Agricultural Products Center (IAPC) or the Nebraska Non-Food Product and Market Development Center on May 6, 1988. The center began with strong encouragement and support from several commodity groups, industry and governmental leaders. It was expected to help broaden markets for agricultural commodities produced in Nebraska by developing value-added products such as fuels, chemicals, synthetic materials and finished goods.

The Center involves Nebraska agriculture, business, government and education in partnerships that take agricultural commodities from the lab to the marketplace. Several departments within the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, the College of Business Administration and the College of Engineering and Technology were initially associated with the center, with the understanding that other departments would become involved as the program expanded.

While chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering, Dr. L. Davis Cements worked with Dr. Sandy Grossbart, Chair of the Department of Marketing, Dr. Krepel, Director of University Relations, and Dr. Dale Vanderholm, Associate Dean for Agricultural Research to develop the original IAPC proposal. Chancellor Martin Massengale designated Dr. Irvin Omtvedt, Vice Chancellor for the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, to provide campus-wide administrative oversight for the program and the Board of Regents appointed Clements Interim Director beginning July 1, 1988.

Objectives

To broaden Nebraska's industrial and commercial activity through new uses of the State's agricultural commodities.

To identif y products derived from agricultural commodities that have the greatest chance for commercial success.

To solve technical problems in production and raw material conversion.

To provide technical, marketing and business assistance to farmers, entrepreneurs and businesses.

Primary Program Components for the Center

IAPC will bring a coordinated, interdisciplinary approach to fulfillment of its objectives. Primary program components include:
 

Marketing Analysis Program
To decide market potential and develop marketing strategies for new products
and processes.

Crop Adaptation and Improvement Program
To identify new crops and improve existing crops which have the most potential
for conversion to marketable industrial products.

Resource Conversion Program
To improve existing methods and develop not methos of obtaining products from Nebraska-grown commodities.

Pilot Plant Operations Program
To test commercial feasibility of new products and procesees.  The pilot plant will serve as the key to cent operations, as it will offer proof that laboratory technologies can be converted into large scale commercial production.

Technology and Information Transfer Program
To trans the Center's product ideans and practices to the private sector.  This program will servie as an information clearinghouse on new agricultural product development.

The Director will manage the center. He will identify a separate professional staff for and technology transfer programs. He will appoint four UNL senior faculty members, part-time, to coordinate the crop adaptation and improvement, resource conversion, technology transfer and market analysis programs. All other staff will be appointed on a project basis.

The Center's Advisory Board will consist of representatives from the private sector, state government, the commodity boards, and UNL Vice Chancellors for Academic Affairs, Research, and the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The Board will guide policy' give direction and ensure adequate communication of Center activities.

Projects and Activities

The Center will administer the following types of projects:

Client projects generated by laboratories, companies or individuals who bring ideas to the Center for joint development.

Contract work arising from specific projects funded by outside businesses, individuals and governmental agencies.

Center-sponsored projects designed to answer specific technical or marketing
problems concerning products that exhibit a high potential for commercial
success.

Center-fostered projects as proposed by state education institutions and
government agencies, such as the Department of Agriculture of the State Energy
Office.

The original financial plan called for the Center to become self-sustaining after a four year start-up period. IAPC was to seek federal, state and private external sources of funding to support the program. Commodity check off board funding and a grant from the Nebraska Ethanol Authority were projected as the primary sources to get the Center operational and to provide opportunities for federal funding. Following the start-up period, the center was to operate on income from member subscriptions, grants and contracts, royalties and endowments.

Conclusion

The Industrial Agricultural Products Center (The Nebraska Non-Food Agricultural Product and Market Development Center) is an designed to bring many of Nebraska's resources together to broaden the State's economic base. It represents an opportunity for Nebraskans to exert more direction over their economic destiny by finding new uses and applications for agricultural commodities produced here. A coordinated team of researchers from a wide range of disciplines Drill associate with the center to help achieve its purposes. The Center will be a partnership of agriculture, business, education and government striving to use Nebraska's resources to shape a brighter, more stable future.

Letters and Memos that originated from others, addressed to Gerald Biby were scanned using OmniPage 7.0.  Therefore certain features, i.e. letter head and signatures are not present in the documents listed in this chronicle. Also at the type face may have been changes to make the documents more readable in HTML.   Originals or copies of documents exists for all documents presented.