INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Officials with a federally funded tech hub on Tuesday said the decision to locate in Indy’s Haughville neighborhood was intentional.

Heartland BioWorks announced it will build its headquarters on a lot on Indiana Avenue next to Fall Creek, on the campus of 16 Tech. The hub is one of 12 to receive federal startup funding through the CHIPS and Science Act, coauthored by Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind.

The facility will focus on helping biotech startups launch their products and providing training in the biotech field. It also will provide job training programs to help people gain entry-level jobs in advanced manufacturing or to move up into a higher job.

Cristina Killingsworth, acting assistant secretary of commerce and economic development with the U.S. Department of Commerce, said the Biden Administration received almost 400 applications for the tech hubs program. She said central Indiana has all of the elements necessary to successfully implement a tech hub, including a high concentration of advanced manufacturing and a well-established agricultural and biological sciences sector. In addition, she said Heartland BioWorks’ plans to ensure the community benefited played a role in the Biden Administration’s decision to fund the hub.

16 Tech Community Corporation President and CEO Emily Krueger said the point of the hub, as with the surrounding 16 Tech-affiliated startups, is to create pathways to jobs in advanced industries. She said the job training programs available at Heartland BioWorks will help expose neighbors to those careers.

“A big part of what we need to do is demystify manufacturing for the future. There is still a perception that it’s a dirty job and that is not true,” she said. “It’s in fact a really cool job and has a lot more to do with what you can do on your phone and the video games you might be able to play than getting your hands dirty.”

Company officials said the hub is still in its very early stages. They said it likely will be up to two years before a contract is awarded to build the new headquarters.