Roquette America Opens Innovation Center

The Roquette Innovation Center will further magnify its strategic partnerships with global customers and suppliers, and also enable customers the opportunity to design new prototype systems and solutions, while significantly reducing the cycle time to market.

10 Jun 2010 --- Roquette America is investing in a world-class Science & Technology campus intented for customers to create new and enhance existing products for the Nutrition, Pharmaceutical, Nutraceutical, and Bio-Chemical market segments.

The Mayor of Geneva, Illinois, Kevin Burns; Geneva Commission and Elected Officials; Krusinski Construction; Cordogan and Clark; and FONA joined Roquette America for an official groundbreaking of the Roquette Innovation Center on Friday, May 21, 2010. The new, multi-million dollar Roquette Innovation Center will offer customers the opportunity to access a world-class, development environment, where companies can create new and enhance existing products for the Nutrition, Pharmaceutical, Nutraceutical, and Bio-Chemical market segments. The Roquette Innovation Center will further magnify its strategic partnerships with global customers and suppliers, and also enable customers the opportunity to design new prototype systems and solutions, while significantly reducing the cycle time to market.

“This is an exciting day for Roquette America,” explains Dominique Taret, Roquette America President and CEO. “In the summer of 2008, Roquette made the decision to invest in a Science and Technology Campus, including the creation of the Innovation Center inside the Geneva city limits.
   
Over the past 2 years, Roquette America has taken multiple steps in establishing our presence here in Geneva. We have transplanted our marketing, sales, and technology teams into temporary offices and laboratories; launched our new business development programs; and are now setting the foundation for future growth.” Dominique Taret goes on to describe that “our vision is to create a Science and Technology campus where customers can collaborate, create, and seek expertise from the two anchor companies, FONA and Roquette America as well as other companies which we expect to join us in the future".

The Innovation Center construction will be prepared for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certification, which is a third-party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for high performance green buildings that acknowledges a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, indoor environmental, and overall health.
The Roquette Innovation Center includes laboratories which will be available for customers, a culinary kitchen, Roquette University auditorium, pilot facility, and customer meeting rooms. The new facility will also have available specialized commercial-scale laboratory equipment and instrumentation to meet the market’s ever changing needs and increase the pace of product development. Roquette America’s Innovation Center is expected to open in early 2011.

"The selection of Geneva, Illinois as the site for Roquette’s Innovation Center demonstrates Roquette’s commitment to our customers and future market growth and development,” continues Taret. “The new, state of the art Innovation Center will enable our marketing, sales and technical experts to more effectively collaborate and strengthen our customer partnerships.”