Leaders from government, industry and academia broke ground on the Heartland BioWorks HQ, a $24.3 million biomanufacturing workforce training and innovation facility located in the 16 Tech Innovation District in downtown Indianapolis. The 20,000-square-foot, two-story building will be the first centralized biomanufacturing training facility in the multi-state Midwest region and is expected to open in mid-2027.
The facility is funded with $18.3 million from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) and a $6 million investment from Eli Lilly and Company for state-of-the-art laboratory and pilot-scale process simulation equipment. The project is led by the Applied Research Institute (ARI) in partnership with the 16 Tech Community Corporation (16TCC) and is designed by RATIO.
“The Heartland BioWorks headquarters is a major step toward turning Indiana’s life sciences strengths into national capability,” said Andrew Kossack, CEO of the Applied Research Institute. “This facility brings together the workforce training, industry-grade infrastructure and partner collaboration needed to support America’s biotechnology and biomanufacturing future. ARI is proud to lead this effort with our partners and help position Indiana as a national engine for this critical sector.”
Indiana’s life sciences sector is experiencing historic investment, including Eli Lilly and Company’s $18 billion R&D and manufacturing campus in Lebanon, Indiana — the largest single-site manufacturing investment in the company’s history — which alone will require 700 skilled biomanufacturing workers. With Governor Braun’s recent announcement that the state will invest $1B over 10 years to grow Indiana’s life sciences sector, adding 100,000 jobs, access to a skilled biomanufacturing workforce is critical. In response, the Heartland BioWorks HQ will offer a centralized training facility with world-recognized curriculum to rapidly provide individuals with the hands-on, industry-grade preparation required.
“When I helped author and pass the CHIPS and Science Act, this is the kind of national impact I envisioned,” said U.S. Senator Todd Young. “Heartland BioWorks is proving that the Midwest can lead the next generation of American innovation by developing the talent, technology and partnerships needed to secure our nation’s economic and biosciences future.”
Supporting a wide variety of skills and competencies, the facility will enable multiple partners to train for entry-level to high-skills positions, supporting talent needs across Indiana’s biomanufacturing sector. The two-story facility will include state-of-the-art classrooms, benchtop simulation suites and pilot-scale process areas. These areas will feature upstream processing (bioreactors), downstream processing (chromatography and ultrafiltration), and parenteral operations including vial and syringe filling. The facility will also serve as the Heartland BioWorks consortium headquarters, providing a dedicated convening space for industry, academia and government partners working to grow Indiana’s biotech ecosystem.
“Heartland BioWorks is helping drive economic development in the Midwest in a globally critical sector,” said Michelle Dennis, Regional Innovation Officer for Heartland BioWorks. “This facility will act as the engine where local talent, ambition, and cutting-edge science converge to drive the next era of American biomanufacturing.”
The facility is located at 1200 Indiana Avenue within 16 Tech, an emerging 50-acre innovation district on Downtown Indianapolis’ near west side, adjacent to leading life sciences companies, medical/research institutions, and urban neighborhoods.
“Heartland BioWorks reflects exactly why 16 Tech exists: to bring partners and assets together in one place so innovation can move faster and opportunity can reach more people,” said Emily Krueger, CEO of 16 Tech Community Corporation, the nonprofit responsible for the district. “This project reflects the critical role talent plays in innovation and creates meaningful pathways to high-quality careers for residents.”
In addition to workforce training, the facility will provide demonstration and scale-up capacity for biotech innovators, enabling early-stage companies to develop production processes beyond the lab in a cost-effective way and accelerating the region’s lab-to-market pipeline.
“Lilly is proud to invest in the Heartland BioWorks Headquarters alongside our federal and regional partners,” said Edgardo Hernandez, Executive Vice President and President, Manufacturing Operations, Eli Lilly and Company. “Indiana’s biosciences future depends on building a skilled, diverse workforce, and this facility is a critical step in making that future a reality.”
The Heartland BioWorks HQ is a cornerstone project of Heartland BioWorks’ $51 million federal designation as a Regional Technology and Innovation Hub under the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 — one of only 12 hubs nationally to receive implementation funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s EDA.
