Pivot Bio, Iowa State collaborate for new, $14 million ag research and education facility
A collaboration between an agriculture company and Iowa State University has birthed a $14 million, 36,000-square-foot education and research facility in Ames.
Pivot Bio, a sustainable agriculture company focused on microbial nitrogen, opened its Customer Success Center last week in the Iowa State University Research Park.
Pivot Bio delivers patented crop nutrition technologies to framers to improve grow operations. The company's nitrogen is weatherproof and does not contribute to nitrous oxide poison by delivering nitrogen to plants without the negative impacts of synthetic fertilizer.
“We’re celebrating a milestone for the farmers we serve as we open our new Customer Success Center in the heart of the Corn Belt,” said Chris Abbott, Pivot Bio CEO said in a company press release last week. “More than a building, this new center is an embodiment of our collective commitment to reshaping agriculture for the better."
The Customer Success Center is Pivot Bio's third building in the Research Park in the last five years. Planning for the company's newest facility began about a year and a half ago, and construction started in the winter of 2022.
Amanda De Jong, head of government affairs and policy engagement at Pivot Bio, said the company's continued growth proves its success.
"Over the course of the last five years, (our expansion) demonstrates the commitment of our farmers and the success and growth that we've seen from the company and our ability to retain and attract talent in Ames," De Jong said. "It's been a great home."
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Ag-centric education and research
The Customer Success Center will serve as a commercial hub for Pivot Bio's microbial nitrogen products, as well as an education and collaboration center for farmers, researchers and industry experts. The facility's main purpose, De Jong said, is for education and training for their network of farmers.
"(Our customers) are the hero of our story, and we want to be able to have a convening space for them where we can learn and share ideas," De Jong said. "We're calling it a customer success center because it really is about service to the growers. It's a great facility to be used as a convening space."
The building also includes about 15,000 square feet of open high bay that will support work on agronomy equipment, including hands-on training and calibration for seed treatment equipment.
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Pivot Bio, Iowa State celebrate partnership
Pivot's newest facility joins several other businesses and resources at the Research Park just south of the Iowa State campus, enabling innovation in a wide variety of fields.
“The Customer Success Center is a perfect fit for Iowa State’s vibrant innovation ecosystem,” Iowa State University President Wendy Wintersteen said in last week's press release. “The collaborative partnership between Pivot Bio and Iowa State University not only drives economic growth and supports hardworking farmers, but also reinforces Iowa’s central role in shaping a more innovative and sustainable future for agriculture.”
Pivot Bio and Iowa State have collaborated successfully in the past, partnering on an independent research study in 2022. Working with the Iowa Nutrient Research and Education Council, the study demonstrated how Pivot Bio’s microbial nitrogen product can increase biomass in corn plants, contributing to healthier and more productive crops.
Story Construction also partnered with Pivot to help build the Customer Success Center.
"They took our vision and our needs, and they created a reality and home that will serve our growers and our employees for years to come," De Jong said. "We could not be more pleased with how the process went and the support we received from the university, Story Construction and all the partners."
It's a really great space to convene partners - business partners, farm partners, Iowa State research partners come together and work on solving some of agriculture's biggest challenges.
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Celia Brocker is a government, crime, political and education reporter for the Ames Tribune. She can be reached at CBrocker@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Pivot Bio opens $14 million facility at Iowa State Research Park
