There will be two main areas of focus for the new CEO of Peoria NEXT. One will be to broaden the horizon and the other will be to raise a lot of cash. Grant Brewen was introduced as the next Innovation Center leader today(Thursday). Brewen is a charter board member of Peoria NEXT when it started a decade ago. He is currently the head of Biotechnology Research and Development Corporation based in the USDA Ag Lab Research Center in Peoria.
Brewen says the first step in a 5 year plan, is to expand Peoria NEXT from a regional organization to one with a national scope. The other goal is to lean on local resources for funding. Brewen says there's an exsiting culture of local investors willing to put money behind a viable product.
Brewen will work closely with Heartland Partnership President and CEO Jim McConoughey to look for start-up research organizations which can benefit by the numerous assets Peoria has to offer. Then, the main focus will be to market the product to investors while growing the new business here. Brewen and McConoughey are going to re-structure BRDC into Peoria NEXT, so the new CEO can operate both entities.
