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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Israel-Based Forrest Innovations Selects St. Louis, Missouri For U.S. Headquarters

06/05/2015
Israeli agtech company Forrest Innovations will locate its first United States headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri. BioSTL, the St. Louis organization advancing regional prosperity by cultivating the bioscience and innovation ecosystem reported the story.

Forrest Innovations is an agtech company working at the forefront of technology to address two major challenges in the outdoor environment: reducing mosquito-carried disease and overcoming a bacteria that is threatening the citrus industry’s existence, state economic development officials said.

“St. Louis is renowned for its leadership in plant science and top notch scientific personnel, offering us a wonderful opportunity for recruiting highly qualified employees. St. Louis also provides a great platform for promoting innovation and collaboration. We are very happy to become the latest members of this promising community,” said Nitzan Paldi, CEO of Forrest Innovations.

According to the Missouri Department of Economic Development, BioSTL’s St. Louis-Israel Innovation Connection (SLIIC) initiative capitalizes on the fundamental business need of many Israeli ventures to establish a United States presence to access markets, capital, networks and corporate partnerships.

“Although we anticipated the strengths of our St. Louis ecosystem would resonate with Israeli companies, the pace of success has exceeded all expectations,” said Donn Rubin, President/CEO of BioSTL. “It’s not surprising that our early momentum has been in agtech, an area where St. Louis shines, with remarkable corporate and research partners, talent and specialized facilities.”

SLIIC takes a collaborative approach to leverage a wide array of assets in St. Louis’ innovation ecosystem and provide the region a competitive advantage by offering value to prospective relocation candidates. Forrest Innovations will locate at BRDG Park, a Wexford Science + Technology development on the campus of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center focused on plant and life science companies. The Missouri Partnership facilitated Forrest Innovations’ state incentives.

“This latest success says a lot about the shared vision and clear purpose with which we approach economic development,” said Mike Downing, Director of the Missouri Department of Economic Development. “By leveraging our strengths and harnessing the combined resources of the state and local communities, we’re seeing a burgeoning bioscience industry here in St. Louis.

“This economic development win is a testament to the region’s ability to attract new and exciting bioscience companies, and we are excited to welcome them to St. Louis” said St. Louis Regional Chamber President/CEO Joe Reagan.

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