If you’ve been paying attention, you’ve probably heard about the “One Health Initiative” in Indiana. We’re quickly becoming the global hub for the agbiosciences, and now we have a name for it. That name is The BioHeartland.
“Really, we gave a name to the strengths that we already have and to what’s already here,” says Christy Wright, president and CEO of AgriNovus Indiana.
She explains why companies are looking to start or relocate in Central Indiana.
“We have the only place in the world where plant, animal, and human health engage and anchor at the global level across different sides of the value chain and also in the higher ed space. And we also know that Indiana—you can invent, make, and move discoveries in bioscience here.”
She points to companies like Elanco and United Animal Health focusing on animal health, Corteva and Beck’s Hybrids with their concentration on plant health, and Eli Lilly’s attention on human health as those anchors. And our university system, specifically IU and Purdue, helps provide the talent pipeline.
Wright says when you hear “Silicon Valley”, you immediately know they’re talking about the tech industry. That’s the hope here—everyone should know that when you hear “The BioHeartland”, you know you’re talking about agriculture and life sciences.
“We are really the answer to the coasts when it comes to what we can do here in biosciences, and hopefully this helps us tell our story to the world.”
Wright explains how she will we know if this branding is a success in the future.
“Companies start to consider and put Indiana on the list without us having to go out and pursue them. We are known by The BioHeartland moniker. We have people wanting to and companies wanting to come to Indiana to be part of The BioHeartland. We’re seeing announcements come from companies that are saying, ‘We’re relocating to The BioHeartland.’
Those are going to be the signals, I think, that we are looking for to say this is really doing what we want it to do. We’ll want to see more infusion of capital; we’ll want to see more density in our ecosystem around startups and innovators. All of those things will be signals that The BioHeartland has really taken root.”
How important is the agbioscience sector? Indiana is famously a manufacturing powerhouse, ranking second in the nation for auto production. However, a 2024 study shows that the agbiosciences in Indiana directly rivals and marginally edges that auto industry, contributing just under $70 billion annually to the state’s economy and nearly 150,000 jobs.
Watch the Agbioscience podcast with Christy Wright below.
