Exhemplary Innovation: ECU plans for the future of industrial hemp manufacturing.

• Position: RESEARCH: NORTH CAROLINA: EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY

East Carolina University is planting its roots in North Carolina's emerging hemp industry.

When the U.S. Congress passed the Farm Bill last December, the industrial hemp market experienced a boom as the plant shifted from a crop outlawed across much of the nation to a multiuse, jack-of-all-trades product.

While the industry remains regulated--growers must apply for a license and are held to strict standards for plant THC content--hemp could find a home in agriculture-rich eastern North Carolina.

Innovators and entrepreneurs at ECU are using university resources to explore the hemp industry and its potential future in the region.

"Eastern North Carolina has historic agricultural and textile knowledge that makes growing hemp an exciting and real possibility," Jay Golden, ECU vice chancellor for research, economic development and engagement and a professor of engineering and supply chain management, says. "We have the right climate, soil composition and farming background to turn hemp production into a valuable industrial manufacturing raw material."

However, as with any new industry, the knowledge and infrastructure behind the production of the crop has yet to be built. That's where ECU's students, researchers and community partners come in.

> Investigating Hemp's Potential

ECU's research leadership sees hemp as a compelling crop that can create new job opportunities and sustain existing companies in the state. So far the market has been fixated on consumable hemp products, but ECU is looking at a different role for hemp--as a manufactured good that can create jobs and economic value in rural North Carolina.

During spring 2019, ECU put research students to work as part of its Rural Prosperity Initiative to investigate hemp's promise as an agricultural commodity and industrial feedstock.

"There's so much more to learn about hemp," Madeline Fleishman, a student member of ECU's RPI hemp research team, says. "We feel like we're working on the next big, cuttingedge crop to come to agriculture. There are so many everyday products that can incorporate hemp into their production."

What the faculty-supervised student team found were extensive uses for industrial hemp, ranging from cosmetics, fabrics, textiles and construction and insulation materials. It also discovered a growing hemp market in the U.S. The industry was valued at $820 million in 2017--a 16% increase from the previous year.

Additionally, a rising number of consumers are making...