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Research and Development
New projects cement Woodland ’ s identity as a hub for ag innovation
by Ken Smith
On the third floor of an inviting brick building in Downtown Woodland appropriately fronted by a graceful valley oak , science that will shape the future of agriculture — and the city ’ s burgeoning reputation as a center for agricultural innovation — is underway at The Lab @ AgStart .
The road to The Lab ’ s successful opening on May 21 this year was not always a smooth one . AgStart had originally been conceived as a collaboration between UC Davis and the now-defunct Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance as a way to accelerate agricultural innovation . After a federal grant funding the program expired in 2015 and SARTA shut down , seemingly ending the project , members of the original AgStart mentor board realized the importance of keeping the AgStart program alive .
“ It was just a bunch of volunteers sitting at a table saying this was too important to the region from an economic development and regional growth standpoint to let it die ,” says John Selep , one of those mentors who is now president and board chair of AgTech Innovation Alliance , the entity that now runs the AgStart program and owns The Lab . “ So we committed at that point to create our own nonprofit focused exclusively on the AgStart program and food ecosystem in the region .”
The Lab includes the Raley ’ s Food Lab , a certified food facility where innovators can develop and test new food products , and the Yocha Dehe Lab , a wet chemistry laboratory space focused on supporting startup companies . Selep says The Lab has already signed use agreements with companies that will use 12 of the 28 available benches — six-foot-wide workspaces similar to a college biology lab — and that it might be at capacity by year ’ s end .
Matthew Perkins , founder and CEO of Macro Oceans , is one of the first tenants at The Lab . His company is working to
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