November 15, 2019

US university to recommend feed mill, grain science complex named after Kent Corp

An Iowa State University board of regents committee will recommend the university's proposed feed mill and grain science complex be named for Kent Corp., the Gazette newspaper reported.

The company has given US$8 million, the leading contribution, for the US$21.2 million project. Kent has subsidiaries in corn wet milling, animal feed production and food manufacturing.

The committee will recommend to the full board that the complex be named the ISU Kent Corporation Feed Mill and Grain Science Complex.

The complex would include six buildings, which will house 47,000-square-feet of teaching, research and outreach facilities.

Contributions to the project also have included US$4 million from the Iowa Corn Promotion Board, US$2.6 million from CPM and US$2 million from Sukup Manufacturing Co.

"Our business portfolio includes developing innovative, high-quality, value-added products from locally grown corn," Gage Kent, chairman and chief executive officer of Kent, told the Gazette.

"It is critical that we support Iowa State in giving students valuable real-world experiences that will benefit their future employers and industries. Our experience with Iowa State's commitment to the Cultivation Corridor and their mission to promote and facilitate growth in agriculture and biosciences helped facilitate this gift."

The complex will include a feed mill tower, other feed milling and mixing structures, grain storage bins, a warehouse and an educational building with classrooms.

The project, as proposed, would replace three existing feed mills characterised as "outdated and non-compliant" with safety laws, the newspaper said.

- World-Grain / Gazette