Gov. Nixon Helps Bioscience and Agricultural Leader Monsanto Break Ground on $400 Million Expansion in St Louis County; Company Anticipates Creating 675 New Jobs

Press Release

Gov. Jay Nixon today joined top officials from Monsanto in a groundbreaking event for the company's $400 million expansion at its Chesterfield Village Research Center. Monsanto, a pioneer in bioscience and sustainable agriculture, anticipated creating an estimated 675 new jobs over the next three years through the expansion. The project is also estimated to create 700 construction jobs at peak construction.

"Today is further proof of Missouri's continued leadership in biotechnology, and Monsanto's $400 million expansion in St. Louis will accelerate our state's continued growth in this area,"Gov. Nixon said. "We've identified science and technology as one of the fastest-growing sectors of our economy, and I remain committed to embracing these industries to transform our economy and create next-generation jobs. Monsanto's major investment in the state of Missouri, anticipated to create hundreds of high-tech, high-paying jobs, further establishes the Show-Me State as a biotech powerhouse."

Gov. Jay Nixon today joined top officials from Monsanto in a groundbreaking event for the company's $400 million expansion at its Chesterfield Village Research Center.

Monsanto plans to add a new state-of-the-art research building, 36 new greenhouses, and 250 additional laboratories, as well as additional plant growth chambers to facilitate development of its seed and trait pipeline. Greenhouses and plant growth chambers, which can be programmed to represent any climate around the world, are a critical component of Monsanto's research, offering Monsanto scientists an opportunity to observe and select only the best-performing seeds for in-ground testing.

Monsanto currently has 1,000 employees at its 1.5 million square-foot Chesterfield site, which already houses hundreds of laboratories, plant growth chambers and two acres of greenhouses. Construction and renovations are scheduled to begin in August with expected completion in 2017.

Monsanto is a leading global provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural products that improve farm productivity and food quality. The company is focused on enabling both small-holder and large-scale farmers to produce more from their land while conserving more of the world's natural resources such as water and energy.

The state of Missouri helped make Monsanto's expansion in Chesterfield possible through a strategic package of economic incentives, which the company can redeem if it meets the strict job creation and investment criteria for each program.

Missouri's strength in the bioscience industry is illustrated by the approximately 4,000 bioscience, agribusiness and life science companies located in the state. In addition to Monsanto, Missouri is also home to the Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis and Stowers Institute in Kansas City, as well as world-class research institutions such as Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Missouri System and others.

Several recent announcements have bolstered the state's reputation as a center of bioscience and biotechnology. On Oct. 3, Pharma Medica Research, Inc., a contract research organization serving the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, announced plans to make a $30.8 million capital investment and create 320 jobs at its first U.S. facility in St. Charles. Express Scripts, the nation's leading pharmacy benefit manager, is moving forward in a planned expansion of its St. Louis campus that includes construction of a 220,000-square- foot building and a capital investment of $56 million, and is expected to create up to 1,500 jobs over the next five years.

In addition to being a growing international center of biopharmaceuticals, biomedical research and plant science, Missouri is also home to a thriving animal health corridor that extends from St. Joseph and Kansas City to Columbia and Fulton. Earlier this month, Gov. Nixon visited Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Inc., a global leader in the animal health industry headquartered in St. Joseph, to discuss how the state's newly redesigned workforce development programs will help the company train more than 400 employees. The Governor also toured the company's new packaging and distribution warehouse, part of a $79 million investment announced last year that is creating 115 jobs.

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