ST. LOUIS — Several economic development and agriculture organizations are coming together to create a new nonprofit to oversee the Creve Coeur based 39 North Agriculture Innovation District. It covers 600 acres and includes the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, BRDG Park, Helix Center Biotech Incubator, and Bayer Crop Science.
The new nonprofit will be led by Emily Lohse-Busch, formerly the executive director of startup funder Arch Grants from 2017 to 2022. It will be responsible for the growth and economic impact of the innovation district.
Seven institutions from the public and private sectors, including the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, Greater St. Louis Inc., City of Creve Coeur, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, CoverCress, Inc., Benson Hill, and Bayer Crop Science, have established the 39 North AgTech Innovation District as anchor institutions. Mike DeCamp, CEO of CoverCress, is the founding board chair.
The 39 North Master Plan was unveiled six years ago. More than $120 million of private and public investments have been made to advance the plan’s goals. The goal is to bring together people, resources, and facilities to grow St. Louis’ economy and global reputation.
The district has access to customers, as half of all US agriculture is produced within a 500-mile radius of St. Louis, including 80% of corn and soybeans. The district also offers affordable incubation space, BioGenerator labs, greenhouses, bioimaging, and key technologies, a growing talent pipeline, and capital ranging from seed funding to late-stage investors.