Marrone Bio Innovations Inc. (MBI), a leading global provider of natural pest management products for the agricultural and water treatment markets, announced the groundbreaking of the Marrone Michigan Manufacturing facility in Bangor, Michigan. MBI CEO Pam Marrone was joined by Senator Debbie Stabenow, Chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, and Bangor Mayor Jennifer Carpio-Zeller to celebrate the occasion. As a bio-based manufacturer, MBI is precisely the type of company that Senator Stabenow is looking to bring to Michigan.
MBI's acquisition of the Bangor facility marks the expansion of its manufacturing strategy to accommodate long-term growth and is expected to bring 50 new jobs to the region over the next few years. The 11-acre, 11,000-square-foot manufacturing site is a former biodiesel manufacturing plant that MBI plans to repurpose to produce natural pest management products, or biopesticides, for the agriculture and water treatment markets beginning in early 2013.
"Michigan's business-friendly climate and the support of Senator Stabenow, Mayor Carpio-Zeller, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Southwest Michigan First and other state officials played an important role in MBI's decision to expand here. We are particularly grateful to Senator Stabenow, who was instrumental in making us aware of the many advantages and potential incentives available in Michigan," said MBI CEO Pam Marrone. "We expect that having a U.S.-based facility with access to a highly skilled workforce in Michigan will allow us to maintain an exemplary level of quality control as we manufacture our products. This is extremely important as we seek to commercialize additional products, grow our production capacity and serve our worldwide customers and distribution partners."
"When we grow things here and make things here, we create jobs here in Michigan," said Senator Stabenow. "Businesses like MBI are strengthening our economy with new job opportunities in bio-based manufacturing, an area poised for growth in Michigan. As Senate Agriculture Chairwoman, I met with MBI and strongly urged them to locate in Michigan. MBI is precisely the type of innovative bio-based business Michigan is attracting, which will not only create new high-tech jobs of the future but also help protect our Great Lakes and waterways from invasive zebra mussels."
The Bangor facility will complement MBI's existing third-party manufacturing relationships. Initially, MBI plans to manufacture two of its most recently introduced products at the new site: Grandevo®, a broad-spectrum bioinsecticide for controlling insects and mites, and Zequanox®, the first naturally derived product for the control of invasive zebra and quagga mussels. Zequanox® holds particular importance for Michigan, as invasive zebra and quagga mussels have invaded freshwater lakes and rivers throughout the state, creating an enormous and costly problem for industrial and commercial water sources. MBI has several other early stage products that it plans to manufacture in Bangor once approved by the EPA.
About Marrone Bio Innovations
Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc. is a leading global provider of natural pest management products (biopesticides) for the agricultural and water treatment markets. Its effective and environmentally friendly natural agricultural products provide higher yields and quality while managing pest resistance and residues. Through its proprietary discovery and development platform and strategically in-licensed technologies, MBI has developed a pipeline of advanced and early-stage products for the significant agricultural and water treatment markets, including several nematicide, fungicide, algaecide and plant health product candidates. MBI's award-winning products for the agricultural market include the biofungicide Regalia®, and Grandevo®, a broad-spectrum bioinsecticide for controlling insects and mites. The company recently received EPA approval of a novel bioherbicide, and has submitted another broad-spectrum insecticide to the EPA. MBI is launching into the water treatment market with Zequanox®, the industry's first natural product to selectively control invasive zebra and quagga mussels. MBI currently has more than three dozen patents pending in the U.S. and globally.