GREATER MANKATO GROWTH, INC. along with hundreds of businesses and professionals rooted in agriculture from across the region have been working since 2013 to strategically build on and connect the region’s extensive agricultural business assets in order to develop and position this region to now be known nationally and internationally as the place for talent, business, innovation and education in relation to agriculture. Agriculture is currently the largest business industry segment within this region with more than $15.3 billion in sales annually. Spanning an economic continuum from production, processing, manufacturing, professional services, research, technology, education, transportation and more; a majority of businesses in the region are either part of ag’s value stream or indirectly impacted. The region boasts an extensive list of ag business concentration and industry dominance amounting to nearly 1,000 ag related businesses. The new name and brand are the result of approximately nine-months of work with the branding firm Capsule of Minneapolis, MN. The process included researching, surveying and collecting input from stakeholders, steering committee members and industry related professionals. “Like other premier industry clusters in the United States, such as Silicon Valley or The Research Triangle, if you are a person or a business that finds value in being connected to the ag business industry then the GreenSeam is not only where you ought to be, but need to be” said Jonathan Zierdt, president & CEO of Greater Mankato Growth, Inc. “I can’t emphasize enough the meaning of this initiative and this day. Having this cohesive force will no doubt accelerate the success of many businesses, but also translates into more jobs, innovation and development of a synergy that will define this region from now and into the future.” said Jim Marzolf, Chair of the GreenSeam Steering Committee and Greater Mankato Growth, Inc. Board Member. “GreenSeam is not affiliated with the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District’s GreenSeam® program.”