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Issue: 980 Date: 6/4/2009
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World Agricultural Congress, Ag Innovation Showcase And BIO Position St. Louis BioBelt On The World Stage
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| Carole Brookins, center, former Executive Director, The World Bank in Washington, D.C., and currently Managing Director and co-founder, Public Capital Advisors LLC, leads a panel discussion on Climate Change, at World Agricultural Congress, with panelists: Frank Tugwell, CEO, Winrock International; Michael Walsh, EVP, Chicago Climate Exchange; U.K. professor Allan Buckwell; U-Cal, Davis' Frank Mitloehner; and Jerry Hatfield, USDA National Soil Tilth Research Laboratory. |
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The World Agricultural Congress and the first-ever Ag Innovation Showcase had the St. Louis region and the BioBelt in both the national and international plant and medical sciences spotlight this past week. Hundreds of venture capitalists, industry leaders, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and governmental officials from around the world gathered here for these two special events. The RCGA and St. Louis Commerce Magazine were co-sponsors of both events.
The World Agricultural Congress has been meeting every two years in St. Louis since 1999; the World Agricultural Forum itself is a non-profit organization serving as the only neutral forum for global dialog on critical issues involving food, water, fuel, health and fiber. The World Agricultural Forum was established in 1997, and has been led since that time by former Monsanto senior executive Dr. Leonard Guarraia, and the World Ag Congress Forum has been chaired by former New Zealand Prime Minister Rt. Honorable James B. Bolger, ONZ.
In addition, the 2009 Ag Innovation Showcase featured innovative technologies and approaches to the various sectors of agriculture, including: ag-bio, biofuels, information technology, animal health, food and nutrition, and sustainable materials --- in a venture forum. These areas are at the forefront of local and global attention of industry leaders, policymakers and consumers.
The event exhibited companies focused on overcoming the challenges of commercial viability while confronting issues related to food, energy, and climate change. Along with exhibiting leading agricultural technologies, attendees at the Ag Innovation Showcase discussed trends in investment, partnering, and deployment of innovative products and services. The 15 presenting companies were: AmbroZea, Inc.; Kona Blue Water Farms, LLC; Phycal, LLC; Prairie Green Bio Fuels, Inc.; TeraVista Systems; TerraManus Technologies, LLC; Terrenew, LLC; TraceGains, Inc.; Divergence, Inc.; Dow AgroSciences; Inscent, Inc.; Kitto Coating Technologies, Inc.; PlantForm Corp.; Tri-Phase Drying Technologies, LLC; and Venomix.
Finally, the RCGA joined both the Missouri Biotechnology Association (MOBIO) and the Illinois Biotechnology Industry Organization (iBIO) in jointly presenting the region's unique assets at the BIO International Convention in Atlanta last week, the largest global event for the biotechnology industry with over 15,000 senior-level life science professionals attending.
While in Atlanta last week, RCGA Senior Vice President Steve Johnson and Vice President Jim Alexander held a number of one-on-one meetings with bio-related economic development prospects and national site selection executives in Atlanta, and took the opportunity to tell the story of how our region is building the BioBelt into one of the world's pre-eminent centers for plant and medical sciences. Some 400 such enterprises are based in St. Louis, with more than 16,000 primary workers, and another 186,000 related jobs already here in the BioBelt.
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, Missouri Department of Economic Development Director Linda Martinez and Missouri Department of Agriculture Director Jon Hagler all spoke at the Convention, urging biotechnology leaders to consider Missouri as a prime location for business development.
These events presented a wonderful opportunity to showcase our Perfectly Centered, Remarkably Connected St. Louis region as a leader in biotech and plant and medical sciences.
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