Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
The visit occurred Friday, but the part that interests me the most about this is the mention of the seed collection:
ASHEVILLE, NC — The Bent Creek Institute announced today that Governor Beverly Perdue and Rep. Heath Shuler will visit the Institute and speak at a public event at the Baker Center at The North Carolina Arboretum at 3 p.m. on Friday, March 13. They will visit Bent Creek Institute, which is located at The Arboretum and houses the nation’s first germplasm, or seed collection, for medicinal plants.
Bent Creek Institute is leading the establishment of a business cluster focused on the $45 billion dietary supplement and nutraceutical industry. WNC’s unique biodiversity and existing work force, combined with validated research, development and commercial innovation, are ideal for company creation and attraction that will lead to new jobs. The Institute has ongoing partnerships with the UNC General Administration, the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, The North Carolina Arboretum, Buncombe County, and Mission Health and Hospitals. Its strategy is to advance North Carolina to the number two position for this industry within 20 years.
When Governor Perdue spoke at the North Carolina Council for Entrepreneurial Development’s Biotech 2009 event last month, she said, “We’re number three in biotechnology, but I’m not happy being number three at anything.” She said she was convinced North Carolina can become “the heartbeat of biotechnology in the United States” and that the state can increase the biotech sector to a $100 billion industry in the state within four or five years. Governor Perdue wants Western North Carolina to harness biotechnology’s business and job creation with the kind of investigation and product development into mountain plants going on at Bent Creek Institute.
