CARBONDALE — The region’s entrepreneurs will soon have a new, state-of-the-art high-tech food processing and manufacturing incubator at Southern Illinois University Carbondale designed to help them expand and flourish — the only one of its kind within several hundred miles.

Funded by a nearly $1.6 million grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, the SouthernTECH High-Tech Food Incubator will feature a high-tech, energy-efficient, kitchen of the future. Officials say the incubator will offer shared space for six semi-permanent tenants to support the growth of small business food manufacturing, and officials anticipate they will rent space for anywhere from a few months to a few years. Other businesses will have access to the facilities, equipment and support

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