Biopharming firm's plans for Missouri move stalled

MARYVILLE, Mo. -- A delay in state funding for a project that would bring a biopharming company to northwest Missouri does not mean the state no longer supports the plan, a state official said Wednesday.

However, House Budget Committee chairman Brad Lager, R-Maryville, said his suggestion that the state freeze funding for new or proposed projects could include the much-touted plan to bring Ventria Bioscience from California to the Northwest Missouri State University campus in Maryville.

On Tuesday, the Missouri Development Finance Board, which approves financing for state projects, decided not to discuss a $10 million state pledge for construction of the Missouri Center of Excellence for Plant Biologics at Northwest Missouri State.

Ventria was to be the centerpiece of the biologics center, where its genetically modified rice and other products would be processed. The board's decision not to discuss the state appropriation prompted Ventria's president to issue a news release Tuesday saying the company was reconsidering its plans to move to Maryville.

Ventria, a Sacramento, Calif.-based company, specializes in genetically modifying plants to grow enzymes that could be used in pharmaceuticals.

'Consider other options'

Scott Deeter, Ventria's president and chief executive officer, said the company remains interested in the project but has commitments to clients.

"We regret that after several attempts, the financing did not materialize, leading to delays that require Ventria to consider other options for fulfilling its business objectives," Deeter said in a news release.

Bob Miserez, the finance board's executive director, said Wednesday that the item was removed from the agenda because board members were aware of legislative concerns over the bond issues and felt any discussion would be premature.

He said when the funding was discussed during the legislative session, it was to include a sizable portion of federal money, but that federal money has not yet been appropriated. Miserez said the board and state planned to continue to look for alternative financing or a different structure for the project.

When state budget negotiators were discussing the project in May, Michael Keathley, the state's office of administration commissioner, said no state money would be spent until the federal and local funding portions were in place.

On Wednesday, Lager said the state is facing a shortfall of a couple hundred million dollars next year. He suggested a freeze on state spending for new or expanded programs.

Asked if that freeze should include state aid benefiting Ventria, Lager suggested it could.

"I think it's appropriate to put a state freeze on spending, including on all pet projects," Lager said. "At the end of the day, I'm never going to ask someone to do something I'm not willing to do myself."

But he said he still supports the project.

"I am a strong supporter of bringing Ventria to Missouri. I'm a strong supporter of growing the life sciences in Missouri," he added, "and I'm also a very strong supporter of being a responsible steward in Missouri."

Dean Hubbard, president of Northwest Missouri State, said Tuesday that the project had been "slowed down and refocused" but that construction would continue.

Hubbard said the university could find funding elsewhere.

"I want to assure everyone that this change in our construction plans does not mean that Northwest is giving up bringing Ventria to Maryville or bowing out of the plant biologics field," he said.

Plans initially called for a 60,000-square-foot building to house a plant biologics incubator, the graduate applied research center, two greenhouses, protein extraction and processing facilities and testing laboratories.

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On the Net:

http://www.nwmissouri.edu

http://www.ventria.com