University of Minnesota celebrates its role in GREATER MSP Partnership proposal to create a local bioinnovation ecosystem

The University of Minnesota has a key role in the GREATER MSP Partnership proposal that was selected as one of the 60 finalists for grants funded by the $1 billion federal “Build Back Better Regional Challenge” this week, University officials said today. The GREATER MSP Partnership involves more than 50 partner organizations and seeks to accelerate job growth and racial equity by growing Minnesota’s bio-innovation sector. CFANS would be involved in at least one project, explained below.

Agriculture Innovation Scaling and Market Development

This project will develop the support infrastructure and commercialization pathways needed to drive innovation in sustainably-produced crops for food production. The initiative will include development of new cropping systems with specific environmental benefits, collaborative development of value chains, scaling support, and data-driven analytics and decision support. Investments will be used to build a strategic mix of facilities, equipment, services and technical expertise. The UMN Forever Green Initiative will team with MBold and the  Agricultural Utilization Research Institute for an initial project to scale and develop agriculture markets for new crops and production systems, potentially around sustainable perennial crops such as Kernza, which University of Minnesota researchers helped develop.