iBIO Members,
As 2019 is winding down, I would like to thank you for making this a pivotal year for our community
Last year iBIO announced our new structure and mission focused on promoting, connecting and engaging the life sciences community to drive discovery, transform lives through groundbreaking research and grow the Illinois economy.
Here are some of the highlights and achievements from this past year, and a look forward to some new initiatives for 2020.
PROMOTE
- iBIO Website: our new website launched this year reflecting our updated mission and structure, and included an online advocacy center & toolkit.
- 2019 State of the Industry Report: this spring iBIO released our 2019 State of the Industry report highlighting the growth and evolution of our community.
- Value of STEM Education & STEM Based Careers to more than 570 girls in grades 3-8 who participated in the StellarGirls after school program and our STEMgirls Camps.
CONNECT
- iBIO Economic Blueprint: Governor Pritzker adopted the key recommendations from iBIO’s economic blueprint into Illinois 5 year economic plan for the Life Sciences Industry, and Mayor Lightfoot announced life sciences as a key growth sector for Chicago’s Economic Plan.
- Policymaker roundtable and tours: This year, in addition to two DC Fly-in programs, iBIO coordinated 9 roundtables and tours connecting our policymakers in DC and Springfield to the innovative companies in Illinois.
- Monthly Federal Grant Reports. iBIO has partnered with G2G Consulting to identify SBIR/STTR and other Government Non-Dilutive Grant opportunities for iBIO Members.
- StellarGirls Facebook Portal. This year we launched our facebook page for StellarGirl teachers, connecting the teachers to share training videos, best practices and timely industry articles to include in their programs.
- Business Solutions Program:The Business Solutions Program is a collaboration with the national BIO organization. In 2019 the program provided over $1 million in savings for iBIO’s members, and this year we added a new program Brex Life Sciences Corporate Credit Card. Providing iBIO Members additional savings on lab equipment purchases and convention registrations.
ENGAGE
- Proactive Policies: iBIO worked with DCEO and policymakers to introduce legislation to update Illinois SBIR matching program, and iBIO joined patient groups and our partners to support proactive EXPERT legislation.
- Policy Opposition: iBIO issued Op-Ed’s and testified against legislation that would impact the innovative ecosystem in Illinois and our member companies ability to operation.
- STEMgirls Camp: This year we had over 100 industry volunteers participate in the STEMgirls Camp. We are looking for 2020 StellarGirls & STEMGirls camp volunteers.
Next year iBIO will be introducing some new initiatives including: Springfield Scientiest Fly-In, Future of Healthcare, Happy Hour Networking, iBIO Leadership Awards for policymakers in DC and Springfield, and iBIO CONNECT – a customized program connecting companies to discuss partnerships, licensing opportunities and/or M&A deals.
Our work would not be possible with out the support of our members. Thank you for making 2019 a great year.
Happy Holidays,
John Conrad
Renew Your Membership for 2020