Valent’s $150 Million Biorational Facility Set for 2014 Completion

Posted by |8 April 2013

Valent BioSciences Corp.’s (VBC) 130,000 square-foot manufacturing plant in Osage, Iowa is on track for completion by 2014. The facility will house new, six-story fermenters with an annual production capacity in excess of 15 million gallons and is the first ever full-scale manufacturing facility built specifically for production of biorational products.

The plant, which sits on a 73-acre site and will house 500 workers, will have the capability to manufacture a broad range of biorational products including microbial insecticides, fungicides and nematicides, as well as plant growth regulators.

Tom Green, VBC vice president of global supply chain and manufacturing, says that the Osage project remains on budget and ahead of schedule. Once operational, the plant will manufacture products for use in agriculture and will also be a major consumer of corn, soybeans and other commodities.

“This is an exciting time, not only for VBC but also for our customers and markets around the world,” Green said. “As knowledge about how our products work and how they create value has increased, we’ve seen tremendous growth on a global scale. This facility puts us in position to feed that growing demand efficiently, and with the highest quality products.”

Plant utilities are scheduled to come online this fall, and VBC’s new quality assurance laboratory will become the first functioning portion of the facility. Green reports hiring has begun in earnest to fill the 90 skilled positions opening up with the creation of the plant, and anticipates the full staff will be in place by 2014.