Those of you who are parents will understand what I mean by this: One day you look up and your kids are all grown up. That’s sort of the way many people are thinking about the fact that July 31 marks the first birthday of Distillery Labs. (To be fair, in the case of Distillery Labs, there has been a whole village “co-parenting” its development.) Just about one year ago, we had quite the gathering of community and business leaders who gathered to celebrate its ribbon cutting, and in the twelve months since, we have seen such great progress. While but a part of a robust startup ecosystem, I am proud of the place Distillery Labs has taken at the center of a bold economic development strategy for Greater Peoria.
Distillery Labs might feel like a youngster, but this “toddler” had a gestation period of nearly eight years. A quick reminder of the timeline: In 2016, Greater Peoria EDC, a group called Startup Peoria, and a host of other local stakeholders convened to talk about an opportunity to construct a center of innovation and entrepreneurship in Peoria to serve as the heart of a burgeoning startup community. That group understood what is even more clear today: to truly build a resilient economy, you need to build a diverse one. While anchor and legacy employers are a vitally important part of our foundation, and attracting new investment will always be a priority, the region also needed a better way of developing new businesses. Greater Peoria was (and is) blessed with tremendous innovation assets: Caterpillar’s Tech Center, the AgLab, OSF Innovation, Bradley University, the U of I College of Medicine, and more. We had (and have) great facilities like Peoria Next, but needed a different layer than business incubation – we needed a place that helped germinate ideas, to inspire individuals.
So eight years after the start of the planning process, we opened the doors. And the work of Distillery Labs since that day has been impressive. Some of the work has been a continuation of pre-building programming such as the gener8tor gBETA program. Some of it we assumed would happen: entrepreneurs finding their way through the doors, cooking classes occupying the commercial kitchen, and student groups touring the space. But some things have been completely unexpected. Distillery Labs has hosted a bank-sponsored pitch competition and an internationally recognized student pitch competition. It has hosted entrepreneurs and supporters from over twenty different countries. It recently served as a “study hall” for medical students from UICOMP. It has become the home of not one, but two, radio stations, including the region’s first all-Spanish station. We often joke that Distillery Labs is a “startup for startups” but its flexibility to meet the changing and sometimes unpredictable needs of the community is its true strength.
To all of the “co-parents” who are reading this, thank you for helping us get to this first anniversary. From the earliest days of dreaming and planning to the ongoing support of funders and participation of founders, it has been a truly group effort. I am looking forward to celebrating many more anniversaries and reflecting on the impact this effort has on our economic prospects.