State officials are providing a one-MILLION dollar forgivable loan to a Japanese company that plans to make what it calls “spider silk” at a facility in Clinton.

Spider silk is plant-based and, according to a news release from the Iowa Economic Development Authority, it’s an alternative to nylon and other materials made out of petroleum. Spiber (SPY-ber), Incorporated, is working in partnership with A-D-M and plans to invest more than 101 million dollars in the project. State officials say the operation will be the first of its kind in the United States. According to a news release from the State of Iowa, the Japanese company has worked with The North Face to make a bio-degradable jacket. The company is installing equipment at A-D-M’s biorefinery in Clinton — equipment for a process that involves fermentation, spinning the plant fibers and weaving them into fabric.