Soy Labs Breaks Ground on Missouri Plant Science Center

MEXICO, Mo.Soy Labs, LLC recently broke ground on the Missouri Plant Science Center (MPSC) in Mexico, Mo., which will serve as a biotechnology hub for companies to perform cutting-edge research and perfect manufacturing processes for ingredients and finished products that are the future of nutraceuticals, functional foods and plant biotechnology industries.

MPSC will be a shared-use facility offering companies office space, wet and dry research laboratories, and manufacturing equipment to process soybeans and other plant-based material. The center will allow companies with commercially-viable, plant-sourced products to prove their concepts and develop novel manufacturing methods to bring the products to market. Soy Labs will be the anchor and managing tenant of the 25,000-square-foot facility and will bring in other innovative companies that are the future of biotechnology for the state of Missouri and for the natural products industry.

The goal of this project is to combine cutting-edge, plant-science research with pilot-scale manufacturing capabilities, said Soy Labs President Ryan Schmidt. This pioneering technology maturation and commercialization center will rival any facility of its kind in the world. A rich campus of innovators and companies, like Soy Labs, that want to bring cutting-edge products to market, it will help better the lives of Americans through healthy, value-added products. A mammoth undertaking, it is made possible by an unprecedented collaborative effort between the University of Missouri, Soy Labs, along with several state and federal government agencies.

Funding for the center was secured from several government entities and includes $5 million in Community Development Block Grant funding from the Missouri Department of Economic Development; $2.5 million from the Missouri Technology Corporation; $2.5 million from the University of Missouri system; and $950,000 in federal funds from the city of Mexico.