New Innovation Community Benefits From Missouri’s Role As Global Agtech Leader
- November 28, 2016
Missouri is home to many world-class innovation districts including the Missouri Innovation Center and the Cortex Innovation Community. Now, a new innovation community is in the works, taking advantage of the Show-Me-State’s strength as the world leader in agtech.
The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, Bio-Research & Development Growth (BRDG) Park, and the Helix Center Biotech Incubator in St. Louis County, Missouri will anchor the district, spanning 575 acres. It will also include the corporate campus of Monsanto Co, which will become Bayer’s Global Seeds & Traits and North American commercial headquarters following the merger of the two companies.
State and local leaders are planning trails and connections from the district to food and entertainment venues, attributes many believe are necessary to continue attracting the top-notch scientific talent that drives agtech investment. Missouri is already home to the largest concentration of plant science PhDs in the world.
The St. Louis Economic Development Partnership has been working diligently to bring this innovation community to life, and plans to unveil the name and branding campaign for the district next week.
In Missouri, the future of agtech is happening today. Big data, smart farming, input optimization, precision ag, biologicals, breeding, green chemistry, green pharmaceuticals, intellectual capital, an extensive agtech infrastructure, investors … it’s all growing right here.