"This notion that you lure biotech to your community to save its economy is laughable," said Joseph Cortright, a Portland, Ore. economist who co-wrote a report on the subject. "This is a bad-idea virus that has swept through governors, mayors and economic development officials."
http://www.maryvilledailyforum.com/articles/2004/11/19/news/news1.txt

Ventria Bioscience of Sacramento, Calif., announced they would move their entire operations to Maryville

"Eventually, Hubbard said, Ventria could be contracting over 25,000 acres of farmland for its work."
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'Down to the wire' deal brings Biotech company to Northwest
By MATT [email protected] Managing Editor
Maryville Daily Forum, 19 Nov 2004

A company specializing in plant-made pharmaceutical production will be relocating to Maryville through a partnership with Northwest Missouri State University.

The "down to the wire" deal was finalized Thursday evening when Ventria Bioscience of Sacramento, Calif., announced they would move their entire operations to Maryville.

"This really is a moment in time that will have an enormous impact on our area," university president Dean Hubbard said at a news conference yesterday. "We were competing with several other states right down until 4:30 (p.m. yesterday)."

"We're incredibly fortunate to have this caliber of a company coming to the area," said Lee Langerock, executive director of the Nodaway County Economic Development Corporation. "They were incredibly impressed with the Maryville area, and were very excited to call this their home."

Ventria has developed a system that uses self-pollinating plants, such as rice and barley, to produce proteins and peptides that can be extracted and used in medicines and food supplements.

The combination of biology, pharmacology and farming is know as "biopharming."

After relocating their operations here, Ventria will pay local and regional farmers to grow their modified barley and rice crops.

"Farmers will make more than twice what they've ever dreamed of making in the past," Hubbard said.

Northwest, in partnership with local, state and federal entities, will spend $30 million on two facilities in Maryville to house Ventria. A group of less than 10 investors also put up $5 million to seal the deal and draw the company away from other potential sites.

Hubbard had said earlier that the investors were from all over the country, but some were from Missouri. The smallest individual contribution was $320,000, and the largest was $2 million, with most investors contributing $500,000. Hubbard said he had promised to keep the investors anonymous.

The small group of investors had until 5 p.m. yesterday to wire their funds to a bank account in California. Hubbard said that if the investors had not done so, the company would have likely relocated elsewhere.

"This was right down to the wire," Hubbard said.

The $30 million from Northwest and other entities will be used to purchase and renovate the old AC Lighting building in Maryville, and to build an addition to the Garrett-Strong Science Building on campus.

Despite the high price tag for the two facilities, Hubbard said the project "won't be a cost to Northwest students."

Langerock said at the press conference that the university is teaming up with "several different partners," including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the State of Missouri and local communities. No specifics were given about the financial obligation from each agency.

Hubbard said Ventria will also have a significant financial investment in the project. And, Northwest will receive profits from each acre of farmland used to produce the genetically-modified crops, Hubbard said.

"They (Ventria) will pay their way," he said. "This is not a freebie."

The deal will likely create several new degree programs at the university in "biopharming." Hubbard said the university would provide undergraduate and master's level students to help with research.

Ventria has 275 employees at its Sacramento location, but Hubbard only confirmed that 13 scientists would be relocating to Maryville. He did not say whether any other jobs would become available to local residents.

"When you deal with a knowledge industry like this, you look at jobs a little differently," Hubbard said. The jobs that will be available, he said, will be high-paying.

"The ripple effect of these jobs on the community will be significant," he said.

Hubbard and other university leaders had been working for nearly two years to bring a "biopharming" company to the campus. During a meeting last February, the university developed a plan and a set of criteria for the type of company they wanted to attract, including a revenue potential exceeding $200 million.

Since then, Northwest discovered that Ventria was planning to relocate. Several other sites were being considered when Maryville first entered the discussion.

"We came in late in the game," Hubbard said.

"We have a number of exciting products in the pipeline," Ventria president and CEO Scott Deeter said in a press release, "and Northwest Missouri State University and the State of Missouri have worked with us to develop the infrastructure and facilities necessary to bring these products to market for the benefit of global health."

Although barley and rice are not normally grown in northwest Missouri, Hubbard said the crops could still be grown in this area. He said barley could be grown in this climate without problems; it just has not been a popular crop in the area.

Rice is a different story. The crop is normally grown on flat land in irrigated fields, and a warmer climate is necessary. Southern states along the Mississippi River delta region produce the most rice, but some is grown in southern Missouri. Hubbard, however, said breeds of rice are being developed that would grow in this area.

Eventually, Hubbard said, Ventria could be contracting over 25,000 acres of farmland for its work.

University officials are hopeful that once Ventria is in place, Maryville could become a center for the entire "biopharming" industry. Hubbard said Ventria would actually court its competitors to the area; the benefit to this would be that industries supporting "biopharming" would move here also.

Ventria currently does not use any of its proteins or peptides in products on the market, but they believe their research will eventually lead to that.

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