This grant provided equipment for the new NCSU Food Processing Innovation Center (FPIC) to be located on the NC Research Campus in Kannapolis. The FPIC included a pilot plant capable of transforming agricultural raw materials into value-added products for testing and markets. Food manufacturing had the potential to contribute an additional 38,000 jobs and $10.3B to North Carolina’s income annually. The FPIC provided the technological innovation and support required to enable entrepreneurial endeavors to transform NC’s agricultural diversity into market competitive value-added products. The FPIC was a collaboration among NCSU, NCDA-CS and the North Carolina Research Campus. It received $4.4 million in the FY2017 State budget and had commitments of $4.85 million from partners for construction, staffing and marketing. NCSU provided annual funds for operating expenses and salaries. Golden LEAF funds were used for pilot scale food/ingredient processing equipment.
