A $25 million, Black-owned cryopreservation facility has opened in Philadelphia, according to ABC6.

Located in the city’s Parkside neighbourhood, a grand opening for the facility, operated by SUPRA Office Solutions and EMSCO Scientific Enterprises on West Jefferson Street, was held last week, June 9.

“It’ll be one of the first private enterprises, other than housed at a university proper or research institute proper, in the city of Philadelphia,” Lin Thomas, a partner, chairman and CEO of SUPRA/EMSCO, told ABC6.

The two companies joined together to increase opportunities in STEM. The 70,000-square-foot facility holds offices and a cryopreservation facility. There’s also warehouse space for critical medical supplies.

“To be able to bring different pieces of STEM (and) to put it right here inside of a neighborhood I actually grew up in, it’s unbelievable and unimaginable,” Ismail Shahid, executive vice president of sales and government affairs for SUPRA/EMSCO, told ABC6.

Shahid is one of three Black business owners of the new facility. The building is extra special for him, given that he was raised two blocks down the road.

“We had many opportunities to go closer to the universities, the (educational and medical institutions) but we decided to bring and put this fabric within the community,” Shahid told ABC6.

State senator Vincent Hughes (Dem. Dist. 7) was instrumental in drumming up support for the project and helped secure government funding.