Small Business Administration Recognizes California Central Valley Region as Innovation Cluster for Ag and Food Technology
AgStart designated as administrator to drive AgriFoodTech Innovation Cluster engagement and support emerging businesses advancing innovation in our food system
AgStart designated as administrator to drive AgriFoodTech Innovation Cluster engagement and support emerging businesses advancing innovation in our food system
WOODLAND, CALIFORNIA (October 10, 2024) – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has awarded California’s Sacramento and North San Joaquin Valley region recognition as a Regional Innovation Cluster for AgriFood technologies (AgriFoodTech), designating AgStart as the cluster administrator to drive cluster engagement and collaboration, and providing funding to expand support for emerging AgriFoodTech businesses.
The Small Business Administration’s Regional Innovation Cluster program helps America’s entrepreneurs start and scale their businesses in critical industries with an emphasis on leveraging regional strengths and collaboration. AgStart is a non-profit that has been active California’s Central Valley region for over a decade, supporting AgriFoodTech innovators, entrepreneurs and emerging businesses as they work to commercialize their innovations.
“The SBA award recognizes the tremendous strengths of our Central Valley region as an innovation hub for AgriFood technologies”, asserts John Selep, board chair of AgStart.
California’s Central Valley region houses our country’s largest, most-diverse, and most-productive agricultural economy, with over 400 different crop commodities. The fifteen counties encompassed in this cluster region represent some of the most-productive agricultural lands in the country, contributing to California’s $50B annual agricultural production, at raw ‘farm-gate’ commodity value. The region also includes a well-established industry of fruit, nut, and vegetable processors, as well as dairy and beverage processing to transform raw agricultural production into value-added food and beverage products sold throughout the country and the world. The University of California Davis, our nation’s number one research university for agriculture and forestry, as well as #1 in animal science and veterinary medicine, and a leader in food science, biological and agricultural engineering, and human health, invests over $1 Billion a year in sponsored research and innovation. The region also houses established clusters of global AgriFoodTech companies, including vegetable seed research facilities for nearly all of the global Seed and crop protection companies, and a concentration of biological crop protection and emerging microbiome companies. The region also houses a number of collaborating institutions providing entrepreneur support including mentorship, connections, laboratory space and kitchen space, as well as funding and entrepreneurial training programs. “Our region has the size, scale, technology and crop diversity to be a leading innovation hub for AgriFood Technologies, and this SBA award recognizes this potential”, says John Selep.
The Food Frontier AgriFoodTech Innovation Cluster encompasses a fifteen-county region covering the key agricultural counties of the Sacramento Valley and North San Joaquin Valley regions, from Butte County in the north, to Merced County in the south. Through the support provided by the SBA, the Food Frontier AgriFoodTech Innovation Cluster will be able to provide more focused resources and connections to AgriFoodTech innovators and entrepreneurs, helping these emerging businesses accelerate their path to commercialization and bring their innovations to growers, food processors, retailers, restauranteurs, and consumers, as well as drive increased employment and innovation-led economic development to the region.
###
Quote from University of California Davis Venture Catalyst:
“As a leader in agricultural research and innovation, UC Davis is proud to support the AgriFoodTech ecosystem in California’s Central Valley. This well-earned SBA recognition underscores AgriFoodTech’s unique value and the region’s unique capacity to drive technological advancements in food and agriculture. With a thriving network of startups, research institutions, and industry partners, we are excited to see new innovations come to life that will revolutionize our food system and benefit growers, processors, and consumers alike,” said Karl Jessen, Director, Venture Catalyst UC Davis.
Quote from Carlsen Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Sacramento State:
"We are thrilled and honored to have the SBA invest in our region through this Regional Innovation Cluster (RIC) award. This investment complements and comes on the heels of our region receiving a regional designation by the California Office of the Small Business Advocate and our efforts to grow the AgriFoodTech innovation ecosystem. We are excited to see this investment scale our region's AgriFoodTech Entrepreneur Resource program (providing mentor and advisory services), empowering more innovators to scale through access to industry and capital." - Cameron Law, Executive Director of the Carlsen Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship | Coordinator of the Sacramento Entrepreneurial Growth Alliance
###
About AgStart
AgStart is a regional non-profit with a mission to accelerate innovation in our global food system, and has been active in California’s Central Valley region since 2012. In addition to the non-profit’s physical facilities, a shared-resource wet-lab and incubator in Woodland California, AgStart regularly hosts community-building events and provides other services to strengthen the local AgriFoodTech entrepreneur community. AgStart is a founder and hosts the nationwide AgTech Nation collaborative of leading AgriFoodTech entrepreneur-support organizations intended to efficiently connect entrepreneurs to the people, resources, and insights they need to succeed, wherever those entrepreneurs and resources may reside. Learn more at www.agstart.org.
About the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Regional Innovation Cluster program
The U.S. Small Business Administration makes the American dream of business ownership a reality. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, or expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. Learn more at www.sba.gov.
To learn more about the SBA’s Regional Innovation Cluster Initiative, including current RICs, please visit: www.sba.gov/local-assistance/regional-innovation-clusters.
The Small Business Administration’s Regional Innovation Cluster program helps America’s entrepreneurs start and scale their businesses in critical industries with an emphasis on leveraging regional strengths and collaboration. AgStart is a non-profit that has been active California’s Central Valley region for over a decade, supporting AgriFoodTech innovators, entrepreneurs and emerging businesses as they work to commercialize their innovations.
“The SBA award recognizes the tremendous strengths of our Central Valley region as an innovation hub for AgriFood technologies”, asserts John Selep, board chair of AgStart.
California’s Central Valley region houses our country’s largest, most-diverse, and most-productive agricultural economy, with over 400 different crop commodities. The fifteen counties encompassed in this cluster region represent some of the most-productive agricultural lands in the country, contributing to California’s $50B annual agricultural production, at raw ‘farm-gate’ commodity value. The region also includes a well-established industry of fruit, nut, and vegetable processors, as well as dairy and beverage processing to transform raw agricultural production into value-added food and beverage products sold throughout the country and the world. The University of California Davis, our nation’s number one research university for agriculture and forestry, as well as #1 in animal science and veterinary medicine, and a leader in food science, biological and agricultural engineering, and human health, invests over $1 Billion a year in sponsored research and innovation. The region also houses established clusters of global AgriFoodTech companies, including vegetable seed research facilities for nearly all of the global Seed and crop protection companies, and a concentration of biological crop protection and emerging microbiome companies. The region also houses a number of collaborating institutions providing entrepreneur support including mentorship, connections, laboratory space and kitchen space, as well as funding and entrepreneurial training programs. “Our region has the size, scale, technology and crop diversity to be a leading innovation hub for AgriFood Technologies, and this SBA award recognizes this potential”, says John Selep.
The Food Frontier AgriFoodTech Innovation Cluster encompasses a fifteen-county region covering the key agricultural counties of the Sacramento Valley and North San Joaquin Valley regions, from Butte County in the north, to Merced County in the south. Through the support provided by the SBA, the Food Frontier AgriFoodTech Innovation Cluster will be able to provide more focused resources and connections to AgriFoodTech innovators and entrepreneurs, helping these emerging businesses accelerate their path to commercialization and bring their innovations to growers, food processors, retailers, restauranteurs, and consumers, as well as drive increased employment and innovation-led economic development to the region.
###
Quote from University of California Davis Venture Catalyst:
“As a leader in agricultural research and innovation, UC Davis is proud to support the AgriFoodTech ecosystem in California’s Central Valley. This well-earned SBA recognition underscores AgriFoodTech’s unique value and the region’s unique capacity to drive technological advancements in food and agriculture. With a thriving network of startups, research institutions, and industry partners, we are excited to see new innovations come to life that will revolutionize our food system and benefit growers, processors, and consumers alike,” said Karl Jessen, Director, Venture Catalyst UC Davis.
Quote from Carlsen Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Sacramento State:
"We are thrilled and honored to have the SBA invest in our region through this Regional Innovation Cluster (RIC) award. This investment complements and comes on the heels of our region receiving a regional designation by the California Office of the Small Business Advocate and our efforts to grow the AgriFoodTech innovation ecosystem. We are excited to see this investment scale our region's AgriFoodTech Entrepreneur Resource program (providing mentor and advisory services), empowering more innovators to scale through access to industry and capital." - Cameron Law, Executive Director of the Carlsen Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship | Coordinator of the Sacramento Entrepreneurial Growth Alliance
###
About AgStart
AgStart is a regional non-profit with a mission to accelerate innovation in our global food system, and has been active in California’s Central Valley region since 2012. In addition to the non-profit’s physical facilities, a shared-resource wet-lab and incubator in Woodland California, AgStart regularly hosts community-building events and provides other services to strengthen the local AgriFoodTech entrepreneur community. AgStart is a founder and hosts the nationwide AgTech Nation collaborative of leading AgriFoodTech entrepreneur-support organizations intended to efficiently connect entrepreneurs to the people, resources, and insights they need to succeed, wherever those entrepreneurs and resources may reside. Learn more at www.agstart.org.
About the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Regional Innovation Cluster program
The U.S. Small Business Administration makes the American dream of business ownership a reality. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, or expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. Learn more at www.sba.gov.
To learn more about the SBA’s Regional Innovation Cluster Initiative, including current RICs, please visit: www.sba.gov/local-assistance/regional-innovation-clusters.