Western Growers Center for Innovation and Technology One-Year Anniversary Celebration

The Western Growers Center for Innovation and Technology (WGCIT) recently celebrated its one-year anniversary, and they honored this milestone by hosting a ceremony and open house yesterday. Located in our Taylor Farms Headquarters in Salinas, CA, the Center’s purpose is to accelerate the development of innovative technologies and help solve the challenges facing the agriculture industry. Since first opening its doors a year ago with six startup companies, the WGCIT has transformed into a hub of collaboration and innovation, now housing 27 Agtech startups focused on tech driven products and services, including; renewable energy technology, soil pathogen testing, and precision agriculture software to manage farm operations.

Dennis Donohue, former Mayor of the City of Salinas, addressing the attendees

The Western Growers Center for Innovation and Technology (WGCIT)

Yesterday’s ceremony kicked off with an introduction from Hank Giclas of Western Growers, followed by Brian Curtis, CEO of Concentric Power, one of the Center’s local start up successes. Curtis explained his excitement around the completion of two “cogeneration” systems, one of which is located at Taylor Farms Gonzales. Dennis Donohue, former Mayor of the City of Salinas, was noted for his new leadership role with the Center, and explained that moving forward the WGCIT will be spearheading development with more startups, especially those focused on food safety solutions and water conservation.

Salinas Mayor Joe Gunter awarded a proclamation to Western Growers Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning, Science and Technology Hank Giclas and Taylor Farms CEO Bruce Taylor, honoring the Western Growers Center for Innovation & Technology for its one-year anniversary.

Bruce Taylor, Chairman and CEO, Taylor Farms also spoke on his experience with innovation, “It’s easy to be skeptical, its takes time, it takes resources, and it takes bandwidth, but it’s important to do. It’s important for our community in terms of being stewards of our resources. It’s important for our industry in terms of our future.”

Celebrating with the startups were a variety whose efforts are shaping the new era of farming & Agtech.

Taylor Farms has been a dedicated supporter and proponent of the WGCIT since the idea first originated during Bruce Taylor’s time as Western Growers Chairman in 2014. Taylor Farms has an ongoing involvement as a WGCIT sponsor, in addition to partnering with several of the startups in their trialing and beta phases.

Learn more about the other innovative startups at the Western Growers Center. And watch how WGCIT is striving to feed the world with fewer resources: