State officials are providing a $1 million 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, Inc., is working in partnership with ADM and plans to inevest more than $101 million 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 ADM’s biorefinery in Clinton — equipment for a process that involves fermentation, spinning the plant fibers and weaving them into fabric.