Elected Officials Impressed with BRDG Park Opportunities in Plant & Life Sciences 

U.S. Senator Roy Blunt with Mark Gorski,  Business Development Officer for BRDG

United States Senator Roy Blunt recently toured BRDG Park and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, his first visit since being elected to the seat formerly held by Senator Kit Bond.  

Senator Blunt will play a critical role in the development of national agriculture policy as the Ranking Minority Member of the Sub-committee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies.   

MO  Representative   Clem Smith (right) and   Richard Norris, PhD

During his first visit to BRDG Park and the Danforth Plant Science Center, MO Rep. Clem Smith, toured BRDG Park and saw first-hand the innovative workforce development and training program with Dr. Richard Norris, Director of the St. Louis Community Center for Plant & Life Sciences at BRDG Park.   

Rep. Smith, who represents St. Louis'  North County area, serves on the Economic Development committee, in addition to Joint Committee on Tax Policy, Fiscal Review, Utilities and Tax Reform in the Missouri Legislature.   

New Greenhouse for  

Danforth Center to Benefit BRDG Tenants

BRDG Park tenants will benefit from a new 15,000 sq.ft. greenhouse planned for construction at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center.  The greenhouse will complement the 12,500 sq.ft. Greenhouse I and 16,700 sq.ft. Greenhouse II. 

Located just north of the existing greenhouses, the new greenhouse will be the closest to Building I at BRDG.  All three greenhouses will be interconnected.  

Special features of existing  facilities include tall houses with in-floor heat for large crops, limited soil bed capabilities, air conditioned houses for extremely tight year-round temperature control, and limited, specialized capability for large scale algal culture growth.  

Construction will begin in 2011 and be completed in 2012.    

BRDG Park Attracts Food Ingredient Company as Newcomer to St. Louis

BRDG Park continues to diversify its tenant mix.  This time it's a multi-dimensional manufacturer of a wide range of value-added food blends and ingredients sold to food companies worldwide, which is establishing a specialty research lab in Building I at BRDG Park. 

Allied Blending's lab, which will be completed in May, will be the first satellite location in St. Louis for the company.

Allied Blending, based in Keokuk, Iowa, also has laboratories for its tortilla blends and concentrates division in Los Angeles, CA, bakery research in Keokuk and manufacturing facilities in three states including its Iowa headquarters.

Allied Blending's lab at BRDG Park will focus on product development research and testing on formulations for processed cheese. BRDG Park is just the right location for the company's new lab.  "Plant based products comprise many key components of our ingredient formulas for processed cheese, so it makes sense for us to be located in St. Louis at the world center of cutting-edge plant science research and technology," said John Fannon, Ph.D., Vice President of Technical Services for Allied Blending, whose office also will be based at BRDG Park.  "We look forward to expanding our opportunities to establish new relationships in such a vibrant atmosphere."

The addition of Allied Blending complements BRDG Park's increasingly dynamic tenant mix and reinforces the opportunities available to large companies involved in agricultural products and technologies that want to take advantage of the connections available to them through BRDG Park and the Danforth Plant Science Center.

"BRDG Park enjoys a strong sense of community with an array of companies representing a diversity of commercialization opportunities in the plant and life science industry.  We are pleased that Allied Blending is adding to the varied range of tenants in Building I," said Sam Fiorello, President of BRDG Park.

HighQuest Partners Adds Resources for

Life Sciences Companies 

Philippe deLaperouse

HighQuest Partners, a strategic advisory and management consulting services firm with offices in Boston and St. Louis, is moving its St. Louis office to Building I at BRDG Park.  HighQuest works with leadership teams in the global food, agribusiness and renewable energy sectors to help them make informed decisions regarding strategy, investments/mergers and acquisitions, and governance.

HighQuest's move to BRDG Park reflects the firm's synergy with BRDG Park and the Danforth Plant Science Center."As St. Louis' reputation as a global leader in plant and life sciences continues to grow, it is strategically advantageous for HighQuest to be located at BRDG Park - the center for plant and life science research and commercialization of new technologies," said Philippe de Lapérouse, Director of HighQuest Partners' Global Food and Agribusiness Practice in St. Louis. 

He added that the company, established in 2000, has completed more than 275 assignments for leading strategic players and financial investors in the major food, grain, and oilseed production, processing and consumptions markets worldwide. 

"We are pleased to welcome HighQuest Partners to BRDG Park," said Sam Fiorello, President of BRDG Park.  "With the addition of HighQuest, BRDG Park's on-site professional services now include strategic management consulting, a life-science intellectual property law firm and two organizations that connect scientific enterprises to financing and partners, BRDG Park offers tenants and other organizations a critical mass of specialized resources in one location that is simply not available anywhere else in the region."

BRDG Park Welcomes  

Global Ag Leaders,  

Entrepreneurs & Investors

Third Annual Ag Innovation Showcase 

Life Technologies is a global biotechnology company whose products facilitate genomic innovation in agriculture.  Sapphire Energy is one of the world's leading innovators in creative algae-based fuel. 

Having quickly become the leading global event for ag industry leaders, entrepreneurs, VCs and investors, the Ag Innovation Showcase offers participants a dynamic platform for dialogue, discussion and deal-making in the full-range of ag sectors.

For information and reservations go to

www.agshowcase.com