TiFiber Plans Corporate HQ Move to Fort Smith
Innovate Arkansas client firm TiFiber of Fayetteville announced Thursday that it will move its pilot production facility and corporate headquarters from Fayetteville to Fort Smith.
TiFiber is a portfolio company of VIC Technology Venture Development, and VIC founder and CEO Calvin Goforth said in a press release that the planned move is aimed to take advantage of Fort Smith's manufacturing and transportational logisitics base.
TiFiber maintains a research lab at the UA's Arkansas Research & Technology Park in Fayetteville.
Here's more from the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal.
TiFiber is commercializing synthetic, antimicrobial polymers that could replace the controversial antibacterial agent triclosan. In October, it received a $75,000 grant from ASTA to further develop the research.
The Fort Smith site hasn't been determined, but TiFiber said in the release that the new facility will begin significant production in 2017 and create up to 100 jobs by 2019.
Pilot-scale production must first be established in 2015 in order to support regulatory certification with the Food & Drug Administration, the company said. Once the products are approved, a full production facility will be established.
Good stuff. More to come. Keep up the good work, guys.