In a state where farms still punctuate the landscape, agriculture-based bio-technology presents an engaging opportunity. "The challenge for us will be that a lot of other states are targeting it too," says ISU's Otto, who is unsure Iowa can match competing states like Minnesota when it comes to the massive public investments the industry is looking for.
      Still, early signs are encouraging. In August 2005, Ajinomoto USA, a unit of Japan's Ajinomoto Company, said it will spend $23 million doubling its facility in the tiny central Iowa town of Eddyville, where it will produce an amino acid used in livestock feed. Technology transfer programs at Iowa's three public universities are spurring business creation in the life sciences.
      Good things are also happening for traditional fixtures in Iowa agribusiness. Wells' Dairy has begun design and site preparation work for its consolidated headquarters campus in Le Mars, near Sioux City. After considering sites in Nebraska, South Dakota and elsewhere in Iowa, the company selected a 40-acre (16.2-hectare) property adjacent to a new I-75 bypass. "Administrative, R&D, marketing and IT functions are currently dispersed across seven different locations," explains Dave Smetter, a company spokesman. Current estimates call for about 190,000 sq. ft. (17,651 sq. m.) of new space across one or two buildings, he says.
      Le Mars Business Initiative Corporation, a local development entity, will construct and own the new headquarters site, which Wells' Dairy will lease. "As a private company, we have limited capital potential," Smetter says. The company's promise of 150 new jobs was enough to prompt legislators to eliminate a Values Fund provision requiring site ownership, thus paving the way for Wells to receive a $2.9-million grant. Construction on its new headquarters should begin next spring, says Smetter, with completion anticipated by early 2007.