Agri-TechE leads delegation to St.Louis

A delegation of scientists, entrepreneurs and business leaders led by Agri-TechE   are set to visit St. Louis – the ag coast of America – to find out more about its vibrant innovation ecosystem. The World Trade Center St. Louis and the 39 North Innovation District (39 North), initiatives of the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, are hosting the visit.
Mark Sutherland, CMO of Missouri Partnership and British Hon. Consul to Missouri, comments: “The past few years have seen a lot of work, by many people across Missouri and the UK, to bring two strong global leading agtech ecosystems together.
“This visit is the next step in that relationship, and we are excited to see how the UK and Missouri can work together even more to lead agtech innovation into the future.”
It follows a visit in 2019 to the UK. Tim Nowak, Executive Director of the World Trade Center St. Louis, said. “Agri-TechE and the UK government introduced us to many important connections and the goal now is to further our discussions and identify opportunities for collaboration, particularly around the areas of agriculture technology, agri-business and plant science.”
The trip to St. Louis is from February 23-27, and will include meetings with world leaders in agriculture technology, leading research institutions, business accelerators, and venture capital firms. It is located on the banks of the Mississippi River and has been described as the “Ag Coast” of America.
Dr. Belinda Clarke, Director for Agri-TechE , said. “The agri-tech innovation ecosystem in and around St. Louis is one of the world’s major strategic locations connecting farming, innovation and investment.  It is an obvious partner for the Agri-TechE cluster as we expand our international activities.
“We are looking forward to working together to forge new relationships between these two world-leading agri-tech clusters. This trip is, we hope, the beginning of a long-term partnership for mutual benefit and growth.”
Exciting programme
Monday will feature an economic overview.  With presentations by the St. Louis Regional Freightway, highlighting St. Louis’ prime logistics location; a visit to the Cortex Innovation Community and BioSTL; and a roundtable discussion with industry leaders including: Bunge, Ameren and Yield Lab to name a few.
Tuesday’s schedule will revolve around 39 North, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, KWS Gateway Research Center and a briefing from the world-renowned Missouri Botanical Garden.
Wednesday will see meetings with Columbia, Mo. with researchers from the University of Missouri’s College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR), the Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center and the Bradford Research Center; the Missouri Department of Agriculture; and the Missouri Farm Bureau
Thursday the delegation agenda will wrap up with a tour of Bayer Crop Science.
“We are really looking forward to this trip and are excited about the future possibilities to collaborate with Agri-TechE and grow our relationship with the agri-tech ecosystem in the UK,” said Rodney Crim, CEO and President, St. Louis Economic Development Partnership.
For updates during the trip, follow @WTCSTL @Agri_Tech_E and @STLPartnership on Twitter.
To learn more about the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, visit STLPartnership.com.