Distillery Labs and Greater Peoria Economic Development Council Announce Innovative Partnership

PEORIA, Ill. - July 4, 2020 - PRLog -- Distillery Labs and the Greater Peoria Economic Development Council are pleased to announce that they have signed a partnership agreement for the two organizations. This represents the first such agreement for Distillery Labs and is designed to foster content, community, and cooperation.

The agreement calls for three main areas of partnership:

●         Content: GPEDC will organize and host community-building events in the months until Distillery Labs is built and open to the public, in conjunction with Distillery Labs. This will include the bi-weekly "Whiskey Talks" events that kicked-off in late May.

●         Community: GPEDC will work with the Distillery Labs team to build out the network of people who are aware of and involved with the Distillery Labs effort and work to expand the reach of the organization, as well as build lasting infrastructure that ensures that community members and the region's startups and businesses are well-served by the facility.

●         Cooperation: The agreement between GPEDC and Distillery Labs will become a template for future agreements crafted by Distillery Labs.

Distillery Labs, which will be funded through a $10 million grant that is part of the larger Illinois Innovation Network, will be located in the Thomas Building, a 50,000 square foot facility formerly occupied by Illinois Central College in downtown Peoria. Distillery Labs will ultimately be a tech, innovation, and incubation community designed to foster opportunity throughout the Peoria region. It will have classes, workshops, public-private partnerships, student opportunities, and more.

Initially, Andrew Ngui, who serves as GPEDC's Director of Innovation and Startups, will primarily be responsible for implementing the partnership agreement, and will coordinate efforts between the two organizations.

The agreement calls for the following efforts:

●          GPEDC to coordinate and co-host bi-weekly "Whiskey Talks" events in conjunction with Distillery Labs.

●          GPEDC to share key communications from Distillery Labs with its members and host periodic focus groups to ensure that community members' viewpoints are considered as Distillery Labs sets up its operations and facility.

●          GPEDC to coordinate early programming efforts around Distillery Labs' three innovation focus areas: smart mobility, wellness, and food and farming systems.

●          Distillery Labs to ensure representation from GPEDC on its board. Christopher Setti, GPEDC CEO, is currently Distillery Labs' board member.

●          GPEDC to consider moving its physical operations to Distillery Labs in the future.

The agreement is effective immediately and will be in place until Distillery Labs opens its doors to the public.

For the full press release, please visit https://bit.ly/2C2x3QS