October 22, 2023 • 24 mins
Join us on a fascinating journey as we sit down with Jason Fleming, the driving force behind Human Resources at Liberation Labs. From his humble beginnings at a marina to his energetic dedication to fostering a better work culture, Jason's career in HR is as unique as it gets. We delve into the heart of biotech innovation, uncovering the inspiring plans for Liberation Labs' new precision fermentation manufacturing facility in Richmond, Indiana.
We unwrap the story behind the facility's creation, revealing the exciting roles it will offer and the revolutionary training programs backed by post-secondary education institutions. Hear Jason's take on the warm welcome by the Richmond community and his ambitious plans for creating more opportunity in the biotech sector. We explore the thrilling potential of the biotech industry and the pivotal role companies like Liberation Labs play. Listen in as Jason shares his infectious enthusiasm and insightful thoughts on the future of work, innovation, community impact, and the biotech landscape.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hello and welcome to the hub powered by manpower
richman, and I am your host,michael Allen, and here on the
hub we interview local businessleaders, community partners and
various special guests.
We share unique and untoldstories of companies,
organizations and people.
We're making a difference inour community.
(00:25):
Manpower Richman is a sponsorof the hub, is a national brand,
yet we're a locally ownedfranchise and we're familiar
with the challenges businessesface.
It's tough recruiting andretaining qualified employees.
Our entire focus is on talentacquisition, so let us help you
manage your hiring and training,provide some ongoing,
(00:45):
customized support.
Since 1966, we've been aninvested community partner,
uniquely positioned to helpcompanies win.
Let us help.
Contact manpower today Learnmore information.
You can go to mprichmancom.
That's mprichmancom.
Good morning.
I've got Jason Fleming with metoday and our guest and he is
(01:08):
head of human resources forliberation labs, and liberation
labs is a new company building afacility in Richmond, indiana.
So welcome to the hub, jason.
Thank you for having me.
We want to hear a lot aboutliberation labs, but before we
go there, please tell me alittle bit about yourself.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Happy to do that.
So I'm head of HR forliberation labs.
I've been in the HR space forabout 15 years.
I live in Toronto, ontario,canada, and born in a place
called Pennetang machine,ontario, which you probably
haven't heard of, and I havebeen in biotech now for four
years or so with a couple ofstartups, and really happy to be
(01:53):
here.
I spend a lot of time inRichmond these days and it's a
beautiful place.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Well, I'm really excited about having this
conversation with you today andI joked about earlier, you know.
Thank you for flying in fromCanada just to do the hub.
Of course, I know that's notthe only thing you're doing, so
part of the tradition I'vestarted on the hub is I like to
ask what was your first job,your very first job, that?
Speaker 2 (02:18):
you had.
Yeah, my first paid job was Iworked at a marina and in
Pennetang machine and basicallydid maintenance around the
property and pumped fuel anddiesel into large, large yachts
and pumped out their subjecttanks.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
That was the first time, so how, so how it was 14.
About 14?
, yeah, how was it Like a portor off of a lake, or is it more
like the ocean?
I still know the geography ofthe area.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
That yeah it was a lake.
So Georgian Bay is a very kindof scenic, beautiful part of the
province of Ontario in Canadaand so very a lot of tourists
and it was one of the largermarinas in the area.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
So how much were you making an hour back then, do you
remember I?
Speaker 2 (03:12):
think it was, I think it was under.
I think it was maybe underseven dollars.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Yeah, well that's that's.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
I think that's pretty good, because my first job was
like 235 an hour, so, but no,that is awesome.
Thanks for sharing that.
So so you're the head of humanresources and You're also a
certified human resourcesexecutive.
What says on your, on yourtagline, right emails, and so
what?
What drew you into HR?
(03:43):
I mean, have you always been anHR or was that a career path
you set out?
Speaker 2 (03:47):
I you know it's fine.
I had a, I had an intenseexperience when I first
graduated from university,working in a large financial
institution.
It was right in the recession,you know 0809 and employment was
, you know, scarce and it was,you know, a lot of layoffs and I
(04:08):
, I, I didn't get laid off, butI saw the really kind of intense
environment and Really stressedout group of people and thought
, you know, there's a better wayto do this.
There's definitelyopportunities to, I think,
improve the way some things arebeing done in human resources
and create better environments,better cultures.
And so it was actually that,that kind of negative experience
(04:30):
, that got me looking into HRand there was a college that
offered a postgraduate courseabout About, you know,
five-minute drive from actuallywhere I was working, and so I
actually went in, I talked tothe dean of the program and I
applied and haven't looked backsince great great.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
So is this your first HR experience?
I mean, where did you kind ofcut your teeth in HR?
So I did.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
I Did a IT executive recruiting so I was my first
real kind of job where I wasworking in the field.
So I did that for about twoyears and I left to to work at a
large transportation company,so the largest petroleum and
chemical transporter in Canada.
I joined there to leave theirrecruitment and then worked my
(05:17):
way up to the director of HR forsix years or so and then from
there Kind of kept moving intoCPG and then and then eventually
biotech.
So it's been kind of transportCPG, biotech over the last 15
and sit on a couple of boards toa board of a tech company and a
(05:37):
board of a utility company inCanada.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
So when did your relationship start with
Liberation Labs?
Speaker 2 (05:45):
So my my relationship with our founders started
before Liberation Labs existed.
We we worked together at aprevious biotech startup and
they called me.
It was on me.
I was trying to have a vacationand our chief business officer
called me and talked me throughthis really great idea and sort
(06:05):
of convinced me to jump in.
And so it was probably it'sover a year ago, I mean shortly
after they founded the business,I started supporting as a kind
of consultant, doing some somebasic HR prep, and then, once we
really started to get somemomentum, I joined full-time.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
So an article I recently read said that
Liberation Labs selects selectedIndiana for its first
biomanufacturing facility, andAnother term I've used is
precision fermentationmanufacturing facility.
So what is the product you'llbe making in Richmond?
I think that's it's.
I've tried to understand it,but I don't know if I'm totally
(06:49):
there yet.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Yeah, it's, it's a new technology, it's very
innovative and you know, you'recertainly not alone.
In 10 years this will be, youknow, massive sector.
Every state will have probablysome some type of a of a company
operating out of it.
But when you hear precisionfermentation, so basically the
shortest way to explain it is wewill be.
(07:10):
We're manufacturing company,specifically biomanufacturing,
that will use a large-scalefermentation process to produce
High-quality ingredients.
Those ingredients will be soldto other organizations, they
will incorporate them into theirproducts and then they will
sell to consumers.
So we're an ingredientmanufacturer that Will sell to
(07:33):
other corp.
So it'll be business tobusiness and then those
ingredients will range dependingon customer needs.
But you know, most commonlylikely would be protein, protein
powders.
But there's a number of otherproducts that could use our
ingredients, likehigh-performance fabrics,
biopesticides.
So the the ingredientsthemselves can be used in a
(07:56):
number of different industries.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Do you already kind of have a company lined up that
you plan to provide your productto, or I mean, it's just you
got to get it running and thenyou put it out there in the
market and people are gonnaprobably come in.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
So we're yeah, I think we have some plans.
I don't think we can go toomuch into detail there, but we
definitely have a fair amount ofinterest and, I think, some
groups that I think we'veentered into some pretty
advanced discussions with.
But the thing about being acontract manufacturer is that
you will have customers.
(08:37):
You may have multiple customersat a time, or you can certainly
run projects for differentcustomers over the years as well
.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Mark Warner, the co-founder, and he's the CEO of
the Creation Labs.
Another article I read saysthere's three things a
biomanufacturing facility likeours needs are sugar, power and
people, and Richmond has themall.
So tell me about that statementand how that played a role in
(09:10):
Richmond benefiting from yourselection of our community.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Yeah.
So what were the three thingsthat he said, because sometimes
they change?
Yeah, it was sugar power andpeople.
Yeah, so I'd add a fourth,which would be proximity to
transportation as well.
So the rail line and interstate, yeah, those are really the
three or four ingredients.
You need to identify, I think,a site or a location to build a
(09:38):
site like ours and I know Markin ATAN, like Mark, knows more
about this type of work than, Ithink, anyone potentially in the
world, but he, I think,undertook a fairly extensive
process to select a site Somelocations in the US, some
outside, some globally andRichmond emerged as a very clear
(10:00):
top choice for us.
So I think definitely thosefour components are here.
I think, in addition to that, Imean, the state is very, very
easy to do business and very probusiness, and then the
community as well has beenincredibly supportive of what
we're doing.
So those elements, I think,really also have helped kind of
(10:23):
reinforce this as being theright choice for sure.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
And I think I'm correct in when they talk about
sugar, they're talking aboutprocessing corn.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Corn.
Yeah, so we need to feed theorganisms that we're using in
fermentation and generally thatwould come from corn Right and
there's.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
I think facilities that would support this area,
that in the region, like maybeout of Cincinnati, dayton,
indianapolis so that's alwaysbeen a real selling point for
Richmond is our close proximityto other larger areas and kind
of a crossroads between thosedifferent regions, and so that's
(11:02):
always been something I thinkthat's been promoted by an
economic development or whenwe're trying to attract
companies to our area.
And then Interstate 70 justruns right through here and
you're also your comment aboutrail, so you've already started
connecting in the community.
So tell me about some of yourlocal partnerships, maybe some
(11:26):
of the partnership agreementsthat you might already have in
place.
We've kind of talked about thisat one other conversation that
we had about talking about thismaybe?
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Yeah, we've.
So far.
The Wayne County Chamber ofCommerce, the EDC, has been
incredible, really incrediblepartners.
We've also selected AMG out ofDayton as our engineering firm.
They've been great and havestarted some exploratory
(11:55):
conversations with somepost-secondary institutions as
well on some trainingpartnerships.
So we've had some great chatswith Ivy, Eastern Indiana U.
So great great groups here thatI think are very agile, very,
very adaptable to work withbusiness.
Of course, manpower has beengood and we've now hired our
(12:19):
first and hopefully soon oursecond, Richmond based employee.
So we've definitely started tobuild out that footprint and I
think those partnerships havebeen very important to learn
about the community and kind oflearn how to really be a
successful employer and very,you know, people have been very
(12:40):
open and happy to share bestpractices and information.
That have been very helpful andprobably saved us a lot of pain
and trial and error.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Have you been kind of one of the primary point
persons for Liberation Labs andsome of these you know,
partnerships, or I mean who elseis kind of working with you to
do that?
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Yeah, depending on the nature of the partnership
employment and training relatedit's.
You know, primarily myself arehead of manufacturing.
Brian Foster has been great aswell.
He's got a lot of goodexperience with the partnerships
with colleges.
Anything else generally wouldrun through either Mark or a
(13:21):
gentleman named Mark Johnson whois our external affairs lead
and so sort of.
We divide and conquer dependingon the nature of the
partnership.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Another conversation that we had prior to today was
you spoke about theorganizational structure you
plan to build here at thisfacility.
Can you share that with us?
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Sure, yeah, I mean.
So we're going to be creating45 jobs 45 to 50, and they will.
There's a wide range of roles,so we'll have you know, about
half of those will be tied tomanufacturing Manufacturing
technicians.
Shift supervisors will need anumber of engineers folks you
(14:08):
know that are also inmaintenance and reliability and
then we'll need your traditionalcorporate resources you know
safety, hr, finance, things likethat.
So it'll be a wide range.
A lot of these roles we'vedesigned to be not requiring
post-secondary.
So, especially on some of theyou know, some of the
(14:29):
manufacturing roles, I think we,you know, definitely have
created good paying jobs orwe'll be creating good paying
jobs that will be, I think, verysuited for a lot of the skills
and competencies in the area andother manufacturing areas.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
You know your facility is going to be very
unique and so you may not havepeople, you're not going to have
people from the industry.
So it's a big part of it youtraining up these individuals to
understand your, you know, yourprocess, your product.
(15:05):
Is that a big part of it?
I hope I'm explaining myselfwell.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Yeah, no it definitely is.
I mean, it's not a biotech hubLike the area is not a biotech
hub.
There's a lot of transferableskills that you know.
Strong project engineers, youknow, can be brought up to speed
on some of the fundamentals ofbiotech, certainly when it comes
to some of the more hands-onroles.
That's why we're reallypursuing these partnerships with
(15:31):
post-secondary education, sothat we can, you know, create
repeatable training programswhere we can hire a person who's
maybe never worked in biotechor heard of biotech.
You know, give them someclassroom and some hands-on
training and equip them with theskills they'll need to be able
to come into the facility andproduce for us.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
So do you think that's primarily going to be a
relationship that you have withIvy Tech?
Do you think that's, or?
Speaker 2 (15:59):
I think you know there's certainly a possibility
that we could work with morethan one group.
So I think Ivy Tech is, youknow, great.
You know and we've had somediscussions with others as well
that I think everyone can fillin some of the needs.
But I think Ivy Tech, so faryou know, we've definitely
explored a partnership with them, and it's something that
(16:20):
they've done with other groupsas well.
So they, I think, would be agreat option.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Yeah, we're really fortunate to have, you know,
great programs here locally withIvy Tech and IU East, and then
also having Irwin College in ourcommunity.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Irwin's another one.
Great, great group yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Yeah, we're really fortunate to have all those
institutions in our community.
So what kind of timeline are wetalking about as far as these?
You know, you said you have acouple of employees now.
I mean we're just where thingsstand with construction and you
know, because you can't hire alot of people if you don't have
(16:56):
a facility.
I mean so kind of where iseverything lining up right now?
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Yeah, so we've got about 15 employees now the
majority are corporate resourcesthat are remote come into
Richmond and other locations asneeded.
We've, I think, likely to have,you know, two or three folks
based locally and we'll behiring the talent that is needed
early.
We'll continue to hire that.
(17:21):
But the big push will be in2024, assuming the construction
timeline holds, which I thinkthe expectation is to be, you
know, finished construction Q4of 24, and then start operating
shortly after that.
But assuming that we stick tothat, q3 and Q2 and Q3 of 2024,
(17:43):
I think will be where we reallystart to, you know, start to
push large scale recruitingefforts, especially when we
factor in the need to bringpeople in and provide extensive
training before they're able tooperate in the facility.
So, yeah, it's a Q2.
Q3 is when, I think locally,there'll be a significant
recruiting efforts underway.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
And I think people will be really excited.
You know, kind of, hey, I wantto get a job there.
There's going to be a timewhere I mean, you want to
encourage the enthusiasm at thesame time you may not be ready,
you know.
So you know how will that becommunicated to the public when
(18:29):
it's the right time to reach outto, to Liberation Labs for
these opportunities?
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Yeah, and look, we've had a lot of interest already,
which has been really coolbecause to really impressive
candidates have proactivelyreached out.
I'd say we're always excited tohave those conversations and we
are very transparent about ourtimeline, that we've got to
build the thing before we starthiring.
And actually we poured concreteyesterday.
(18:55):
One of our engineers, mikeWitham, who's based locally here
.
I think he got up at maybe itwas 2.30 am to be there to
oversee the pouring of concrete.
So it's exciting.
That's a big step, obviously,but I would say you know the
messaging is we will post almostevery role on our Bamboo HR
(19:21):
site, which is sort of arecruiting tool that we use and
it's where everyone can apply,and then we collaborate
internally on the different jobswith the different hiring
managers.
So every job that we createwill be posted on our Bamboo
site.
So if people monitor that,they'll be able to be current.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
So do they go to share exactly how they get to?
Speaker 2 (19:44):
that.
So it's a URL.
It's just, basically, they cancreate a bookmark and it'll be
our company's profile with alist of all the vacancies on it.
But, I can send it to you afterand hopefully we can share it,
but that will be a list of allactive roles.
We also post on LinkedIn and Ithink we intend on likely
(20:05):
hosting some informationsessions when we plan on kind of
ramping up that large-scalerecruiting effort.
We'll likely have someinformation sessions locally so
that people can meet our groupand we can tell them more about
the company and it will be verycommunicative at that point and
make sure that anyone who'sinterested knows kind of when
(20:26):
and where so that we can startto meet folks in person.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Great, awesome.
So you've been here on thescene early.
So what's the things look likefor you personally?
I mean in terms of yourinvolvement here next year maybe
2025, I think we spoke andyou're not necessarily going to
(20:49):
be stationed here, but I thinkyou plan to be here quite a bit.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
How's that going to look for you personally?
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Yeah, this is.
Mark actually said somethingthe other day.
He said if anyone has anyreally fun vacations that they
plan on taking, you take thosenow, because when we're
finishing construction andthroughout the startup, we're
going to be in Richmond a lotand I personally love it here.
It reminds me of the town Igrew up in.
(21:17):
It's similar size.
But I'll be here probably everysix to eight weeks at least, if
not more frequently, whilewe're in construction for
meetings and to build thesepartnerships.
When we are close to launch I'dsay probably Q3, q4 of next
year I would imagine I'd be hereevery other week and then we'll
(21:40):
eventually hire some folkslocally in HR and safety to make
sure there's always a presencehere.
But I'll be here veryfrequently second half of 24 and
25 and beyond, I'm sure.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Great, so we've touched a lot of different
things.
Is there anything that you wantto share about Liberation Labs
that I've maybe forgot to askyou, or something that's come in
your mind since we've beensitting here?
Speaker 2 (22:08):
I'd say.
First thing I would say is tojust say that we are very
appreciative of, first of all,manpower.
You guys have been great and,even before we were working
together, a lot of time andadvice, which was very helpful.
The community in general hasbeen so welcoming.
It was very, very pleasant tostart doing business here
because of how excited peoplewere and just really people
(22:31):
going out of their way to helpensure that we were getting
pointed in the right direction.
So really appreciate that.
We're very excited.
I think we have a really strongculture.
We all collectively ourleadership team now has made it
a priority to build a workplacethat is very, very productive
but very enjoyable, and so whenwe go to market, we're excited
(22:54):
to show what we're all about,bring people in to this kind of
small but mighty company we'rebuilding and, I think, create
really great jobs thatultimately will help people
advance their career and open upnew doors in the biotech space.
So we're thrilled and I'mpersonally really excited to
start having those sessions inthe community meet with people,
(23:17):
tell them what we're all aboutand then start hiring more folks
in the community.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
We do a great job of communicating what's going on
with your company and justtalking to you you get really
encouraged about what you'regoing to bring to the community
and I'm glad to hear thepositive things you said about
the help that you've received.
I think sometimes we take forgranted all the different
(23:45):
organizations and people thathelp out in the community and
try to bring try companies likeLiberation Lab.
So I'm glad to hear that you'vehad a great experience in our
community that way and so it'dbe kind of fun, maybe like a
year from now, that sit downagain and kind of see how things
progressed over a 12 monthperiod and hear more about how
(24:08):
this story has unfolded.
And we just look for greatthings from your company and so
glad that you're a part of it.
I guess.
Thank you for coming today andit's been a great conversation
and best of luck moving forward.
Appreciate it.
Thanks a lot, Thank you.
Hello and welcome to the hub powered by manpower
richman, and I am your host,michael Allen, and here on the
hub we interview local businessleaders, community partners and
various special guests.
We share unique and untoldstories of companies,
organizations and people.
We're making a difference inour community.
(00:25):
Manpower Richman is a sponsorof the hub, is a national brand,
yet we're a locally ownedfranchise and we're familiar
with the challenges businessesface.
It's tough recruiting andretaining qualified employees.
Our entire focus is on talentacquisition, so let us help you
manage your hiring and training,provide some ongoing,
(00:45):
customized support.
Since 1966, we've been aninvested community partner,
uniquely positioned to helpcompanies win.
Let us help.
Contact manpower today Learnmore information.
You can go to mprichmancom.
That's mprichmancom.
Good morning.
I've got Jason Fleming with metoday and our guest and he is
(01:08):
head of human resources forliberation labs, and liberation
labs is a new company building afacility in Richmond, indiana.
So welcome to the hub, jason.
Thank you for having me.
We want to hear a lot aboutliberation labs, but before we
go there, please tell me alittle bit about yourself.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Happy to do that.
So I'm head of HR forliberation labs.
I've been in the HR space forabout 15 years.
I live in Toronto, ontario,canada, and born in a place
called Pennetang machine,ontario, which you probably
haven't heard of, and I havebeen in biotech now for four
years or so with a couple ofstartups, and really happy to be
(01:53):
here.
I spend a lot of time inRichmond these days and it's a
beautiful place.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Well, I'm really excited about having this
conversation with you today andI joked about earlier, you know.
Thank you for flying in fromCanada just to do the hub.
Of course, I know that's notthe only thing you're doing, so
part of the tradition I'vestarted on the hub is I like to
ask what was your first job,your very first job, that?
Speaker 2 (02:18):
you had.
Yeah, my first paid job was Iworked at a marina and in
Pennetang machine and basicallydid maintenance around the
property and pumped fuel anddiesel into large, large yachts
and pumped out their subjecttanks.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
That was the first time, so how, so how it was 14.
About 14?
, yeah, how was it Like a portor off of a lake, or is it more
like the ocean?
I still know the geography ofthe area.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
That yeah it was a lake.
So Georgian Bay is a very kindof scenic, beautiful part of the
province of Ontario in Canadaand so very a lot of tourists
and it was one of the largermarinas in the area.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
So how much were you making an hour back then, do you
remember I?
Speaker 2 (03:12):
think it was, I think it was under.
I think it was maybe underseven dollars.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Yeah, well that's that's.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
I think that's pretty good, because my first job was
like 235 an hour, so, but no,that is awesome.
Thanks for sharing that.
So so you're the head of humanresources and You're also a
certified human resourcesexecutive.
What says on your, on yourtagline, right emails, and so
what?
What drew you into HR?
(03:43):
I mean, have you always been anHR or was that a career path
you set out?
Speaker 2 (03:47):
I you know it's fine.
I had a, I had an intenseexperience when I first
graduated from university,working in a large financial
institution.
It was right in the recession,you know 0809 and employment was
, you know, scarce and it was,you know, a lot of layoffs and I
(04:08):
, I, I didn't get laid off, butI saw the really kind of intense
environment and Really stressedout group of people and thought
, you know, there's a better wayto do this.
There's definitelyopportunities to, I think,
improve the way some things arebeing done in human resources
and create better environments,better cultures.
And so it was actually that,that kind of negative experience
(04:30):
, that got me looking into HRand there was a college that
offered a postgraduate courseabout About, you know,
five-minute drive from actuallywhere I was working, and so I
actually went in, I talked tothe dean of the program and I
applied and haven't looked backsince great great.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
So is this your first HR experience?
I mean, where did you kind ofcut your teeth in HR?
So I did.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
I Did a IT executive recruiting so I was my first
real kind of job where I wasworking in the field.
So I did that for about twoyears and I left to to work at a
large transportation company,so the largest petroleum and
chemical transporter in Canada.
I joined there to leave theirrecruitment and then worked my
(05:17):
way up to the director of HR forsix years or so and then from
there Kind of kept moving intoCPG and then and then eventually
biotech.
So it's been kind of transportCPG, biotech over the last 15
and sit on a couple of boards toa board of a tech company and a
(05:37):
board of a utility company inCanada.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
So when did your relationship start with
Liberation Labs?
Speaker 2 (05:45):
So my my relationship with our founders started
before Liberation Labs existed.
We we worked together at aprevious biotech startup and
they called me.
It was on me.
I was trying to have a vacationand our chief business officer
called me and talked me throughthis really great idea and sort
(06:05):
of convinced me to jump in.
And so it was probably it'sover a year ago, I mean shortly
after they founded the business,I started supporting as a kind
of consultant, doing some somebasic HR prep, and then, once we
really started to get somemomentum, I joined full-time.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
So an article I recently read said that
Liberation Labs selects selectedIndiana for its first
biomanufacturing facility, andAnother term I've used is
precision fermentationmanufacturing facility.
So what is the product you'llbe making in Richmond?
I think that's it's.
I've tried to understand it,but I don't know if I'm totally
(06:49):
there yet.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Yeah, it's, it's a new technology, it's very
innovative and you know, you'recertainly not alone.
In 10 years this will be, youknow, massive sector.
Every state will have probablysome some type of a of a company
operating out of it.
But when you hear precisionfermentation, so basically the
shortest way to explain it is wewill be.
(07:10):
We're manufacturing company,specifically biomanufacturing,
that will use a large-scalefermentation process to produce
High-quality ingredients.
Those ingredients will be soldto other organizations, they
will incorporate them into theirproducts and then they will
sell to consumers.
So we're an ingredientmanufacturer that Will sell to
(07:33):
other corp.
So it'll be business tobusiness and then those
ingredients will range dependingon customer needs.
But you know, most commonlylikely would be protein, protein
powders.
But there's a number of otherproducts that could use our
ingredients, likehigh-performance fabrics,
biopesticides.
So the the ingredientsthemselves can be used in a
(07:56):
number of different industries.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Do you already kind of have a company lined up that
you plan to provide your productto, or I mean, it's just you
got to get it running and thenyou put it out there in the
market and people are gonnaprobably come in.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
So we're yeah, I think we have some plans.
I don't think we can go toomuch into detail there, but we
definitely have a fair amount ofinterest and, I think, some
groups that I think we'veentered into some pretty
advanced discussions with.
But the thing about being acontract manufacturer is that
you will have customers.
(08:37):
You may have multiple customersat a time, or you can certainly
run projects for differentcustomers over the years as well
.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Mark Warner, the co-founder, and he's the CEO of
the Creation Labs.
Another article I read saysthere's three things a
biomanufacturing facility likeours needs are sugar, power and
people, and Richmond has themall.
So tell me about that statementand how that played a role in
(09:10):
Richmond benefiting from yourselection of our community.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Yeah.
So what were the three thingsthat he said, because sometimes
they change?
Yeah, it was sugar power andpeople.
Yeah, so I'd add a fourth,which would be proximity to
transportation as well.
So the rail line and interstate, yeah, those are really the
three or four ingredients.
You need to identify, I think,a site or a location to build a
(09:38):
site like ours and I know Markin ATAN, like Mark, knows more
about this type of work than, Ithink, anyone potentially in the
world, but he, I think,undertook a fairly extensive
process to select a site Somelocations in the US, some
outside, some globally andRichmond emerged as a very clear
(10:00):
top choice for us.
So I think definitely thosefour components are here.
I think, in addition to that, Imean, the state is very, very
easy to do business and very probusiness, and then the
community as well has beenincredibly supportive of what
we're doing.
So those elements, I think,really also have helped kind of
(10:23):
reinforce this as being theright choice for sure.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
And I think I'm correct in when they talk about
sugar, they're talking aboutprocessing corn.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Corn.
Yeah, so we need to feed theorganisms that we're using in
fermentation and generally thatwould come from corn Right and
there's.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
I think facilities that would support this area,
that in the region, like maybeout of Cincinnati, dayton,
indianapolis so that's alwaysbeen a real selling point for
Richmond is our close proximityto other larger areas and kind
of a crossroads between thosedifferent regions, and so that's
(11:02):
always been something I thinkthat's been promoted by an
economic development or whenwe're trying to attract
companies to our area.
And then Interstate 70 justruns right through here and
you're also your comment aboutrail, so you've already started
connecting in the community.
So tell me about some of yourlocal partnerships, maybe some
(11:26):
of the partnership agreementsthat you might already have in
place.
We've kind of talked about thisat one other conversation that
we had about talking about thismaybe?
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Yeah, we've.
So far.
The Wayne County Chamber ofCommerce, the EDC, has been
incredible, really incrediblepartners.
We've also selected AMG out ofDayton as our engineering firm.
They've been great and havestarted some exploratory
(11:55):
conversations with somepost-secondary institutions as
well on some trainingpartnerships.
So we've had some great chatswith Ivy, Eastern Indiana U.
So great great groups here thatI think are very agile, very,
very adaptable to work withbusiness.
Of course, manpower has beengood and we've now hired our
(12:19):
first and hopefully soon oursecond, Richmond based employee.
So we've definitely started tobuild out that footprint and I
think those partnerships havebeen very important to learn
about the community and kind oflearn how to really be a
successful employer and very,you know, people have been very
(12:40):
open and happy to share bestpractices and information.
That have been very helpful andprobably saved us a lot of pain
and trial and error.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Have you been kind of one of the primary point
persons for Liberation Labs andsome of these you know,
partnerships, or I mean who elseis kind of working with you to
do that?
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Yeah, depending on the nature of the partnership
employment and training relatedit's.
You know, primarily myself arehead of manufacturing.
Brian Foster has been great aswell.
He's got a lot of goodexperience with the partnerships
with colleges.
Anything else generally wouldrun through either Mark or a
(13:21):
gentleman named Mark Johnson whois our external affairs lead
and so sort of.
We divide and conquer dependingon the nature of the
partnership.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Another conversation that we had prior to today was
you spoke about theorganizational structure you
plan to build here at thisfacility.
Can you share that with us?
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Sure, yeah, I mean.
So we're going to be creating45 jobs 45 to 50, and they will.
There's a wide range of roles,so we'll have you know, about
half of those will be tied tomanufacturing Manufacturing
technicians.
Shift supervisors will need anumber of engineers folks you
(14:08):
know that are also inmaintenance and reliability and
then we'll need your traditionalcorporate resources you know
safety, hr, finance, things likethat.
So it'll be a wide range.
A lot of these roles we'vedesigned to be not requiring
post-secondary.
So, especially on some of theyou know, some of the
(14:29):
manufacturing roles, I think we,you know, definitely have
created good paying jobs orwe'll be creating good paying
jobs that will be, I think, verysuited for a lot of the skills
and competencies in the area andother manufacturing areas.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
You know your facility is going to be very
unique and so you may not havepeople, you're not going to have
people from the industry.
So it's a big part of it youtraining up these individuals to
understand your, you know, yourprocess, your product.
(15:05):
Is that a big part of it?
I hope I'm explaining myselfwell.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Yeah, no it definitely is.
I mean, it's not a biotech hubLike the area is not a biotech
hub.
There's a lot of transferableskills that you know.
Strong project engineers, youknow, can be brought up to speed
on some of the fundamentals ofbiotech, certainly when it comes
to some of the more hands-onroles.
That's why we're reallypursuing these partnerships with
(15:31):
post-secondary education, sothat we can, you know, create
repeatable training programswhere we can hire a person who's
maybe never worked in biotechor heard of biotech.
You know, give them someclassroom and some hands-on
training and equip them with theskills they'll need to be able
to come into the facility andproduce for us.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
So do you think that's primarily going to be a
relationship that you have withIvy Tech?
Do you think that's, or?
Speaker 2 (15:59):
I think you know there's certainly a possibility
that we could work with morethan one group.
So I think Ivy Tech is, youknow, great.
You know and we've had somediscussions with others as well
that I think everyone can fillin some of the needs.
But I think Ivy Tech, so faryou know, we've definitely
explored a partnership with them, and it's something that
(16:20):
they've done with other groupsas well.
So they, I think, would be agreat option.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Yeah, we're really fortunate to have, you know,
great programs here locally withIvy Tech and IU East, and then
also having Irwin College in ourcommunity.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Irwin's another one.
Great, great group yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Yeah, we're really fortunate to have all those
institutions in our community.
So what kind of timeline are wetalking about as far as these?
You know, you said you have acouple of employees now.
I mean we're just where thingsstand with construction and you
know, because you can't hire alot of people if you don't have
(16:56):
a facility.
I mean so kind of where iseverything lining up right now?
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Yeah, so we've got about 15 employees now the
majority are corporate resourcesthat are remote come into
Richmond and other locations asneeded.
We've, I think, likely to have,you know, two or three folks
based locally and we'll behiring the talent that is needed
early.
We'll continue to hire that.
(17:21):
But the big push will be in2024, assuming the construction
timeline holds, which I thinkthe expectation is to be, you
know, finished construction Q4of 24, and then start operating
shortly after that.
But assuming that we stick tothat, q3 and Q2 and Q3 of 2024,
(17:43):
I think will be where we reallystart to, you know, start to
push large scale recruitingefforts, especially when we
factor in the need to bringpeople in and provide extensive
training before they're able tooperate in the facility.
So, yeah, it's a Q2.
Q3 is when, I think locally,there'll be a significant
recruiting efforts underway.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
And I think people will be really excited.
You know, kind of, hey, I wantto get a job there.
There's going to be a timewhere I mean, you want to
encourage the enthusiasm at thesame time you may not be ready,
you know.
So you know how will that becommunicated to the public when
(18:29):
it's the right time to reach outto, to Liberation Labs for
these opportunities?
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Yeah, and look, we've had a lot of interest already,
which has been really coolbecause to really impressive
candidates have proactivelyreached out.
I'd say we're always excited tohave those conversations and we
are very transparent about ourtimeline, that we've got to
build the thing before we starthiring.
And actually we poured concreteyesterday.
(18:55):
One of our engineers, mikeWitham, who's based locally here
.
I think he got up at maybe itwas 2.30 am to be there to
oversee the pouring of concrete.
So it's exciting.
That's a big step, obviously,but I would say you know the
messaging is we will post almostevery role on our Bamboo HR
(19:21):
site, which is sort of arecruiting tool that we use and
it's where everyone can apply,and then we collaborate
internally on the different jobswith the different hiring
managers.
So every job that we createwill be posted on our Bamboo
site.
So if people monitor that,they'll be able to be current.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
So do they go to share exactly how they get to?
Speaker 2 (19:44):
that.
So it's a URL.
It's just, basically, they cancreate a bookmark and it'll be
our company's profile with alist of all the vacancies on it.
But, I can send it to you afterand hopefully we can share it,
but that will be a list of allactive roles.
We also post on LinkedIn and Ithink we intend on likely
(20:05):
hosting some informationsessions when we plan on kind of
ramping up that large-scalerecruiting effort.
We'll likely have someinformation sessions locally so
that people can meet our groupand we can tell them more about
the company and it will be verycommunicative at that point and
make sure that anyone who'sinterested knows kind of when
(20:26):
and where so that we can startto meet folks in person.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Great, awesome.
So you've been here on thescene early.
So what's the things look likefor you personally?
I mean in terms of yourinvolvement here next year maybe
2025, I think we spoke andyou're not necessarily going to
(20:49):
be stationed here, but I thinkyou plan to be here quite a bit.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
How's that going to look for you personally?
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Yeah, this is.
Mark actually said somethingthe other day.
He said if anyone has anyreally fun vacations that they
plan on taking, you take thosenow, because when we're
finishing construction andthroughout the startup, we're
going to be in Richmond a lotand I personally love it here.
It reminds me of the town Igrew up in.
(21:17):
It's similar size.
But I'll be here probably everysix to eight weeks at least, if
not more frequently, whilewe're in construction for
meetings and to build thesepartnerships.
When we are close to launch I'dsay probably Q3, q4 of next
year I would imagine I'd be hereevery other week and then we'll
(21:40):
eventually hire some folkslocally in HR and safety to make
sure there's always a presencehere.
But I'll be here veryfrequently second half of 24 and
25 and beyond, I'm sure.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Great, so we've touched a lot of different
things.
Is there anything that you wantto share about Liberation Labs
that I've maybe forgot to askyou, or something that's come in
your mind since we've beensitting here?
Speaker 2 (22:08):
I'd say.
First thing I would say is tojust say that we are very
appreciative of, first of all,manpower.
You guys have been great and,even before we were working
together, a lot of time andadvice, which was very helpful.
The community in general hasbeen so welcoming.
It was very, very pleasant tostart doing business here
because of how excited peoplewere and just really people
(22:31):
going out of their way to helpensure that we were getting
pointed in the right direction.
So really appreciate that.
We're very excited.
I think we have a really strongculture.
We all collectively ourleadership team now has made it
a priority to build a workplacethat is very, very productive
but very enjoyable, and so whenwe go to market, we're excited
(22:54):
to show what we're all about,bring people in to this kind of
small but mighty company we'rebuilding and, I think, create
really great jobs thatultimately will help people
advance their career and open upnew doors in the biotech space.
So we're thrilled and I'mpersonally really excited to
start having those sessions inthe community meet with people,
(23:17):
tell them what we're all aboutand then start hiring more folks
in the community.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
We do a great job of communicating what's going on
with your company and justtalking to you you get really
encouraged about what you'regoing to bring to the community
and I'm glad to hear thepositive things you said about
the help that you've received.
I think sometimes we take forgranted all the different
(23:45):
organizations and people thathelp out in the community and
try to bring try companies likeLiberation Lab.
So I'm glad to hear that you'vehad a great experience in our
community that way and so it'dbe kind of fun, maybe like a
year from now, that sit downagain and kind of see how things
progressed over a 12 monthperiod and hear more about how
(24:08):
this story has unfolded.
And we just look for greatthings from your company and so
glad that you're a part of it.
I guess.
Thank you for coming today andit's been a great conversation
and best of luck moving forward.
Appreciate it.
Thanks a lot, Thank you.
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