ScottsMiracle-Gro Awarded Two-Year Grant from Ohio BioProducts Innovation Center

Grant enables further development of lawn and garden products from bio-based materials 


MARYSVILLE, Ohio, April 4  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, the global leader in the consumer lawn and garden industry, was named the recipient of a two-year grant from the Ohio BioProducts Innovation Center (OBIC) for the design, development and manufacture of new types of landscape products from sustainable industrial and farm byproducts.

The Ohio BioProducts Innovation Center (OBIC) is a research initiative that integrates academia and industry toward the development of renewable specialty chemicals, polymers/plastics and advanced materials. The OBIC brings together Ohio's two largest industries, the agricultural and specialty- chemical/advanced-materials sectors, toward product development for the commercialization of bio-products. The Center draws on the research capabilities at The Ohio State University and the Battelle Memorial Institute.

"The OBIC creates a collaborative platform for the generation of innovative solutions serving the targeted industries and in-turn, the economic well-being of Ohio," said Ray Guerry, chief technology officer of ScottsMiracle-Gro. "We recognized from its start the valuable goals of the OBIC, goals only natural for our involvement. Through this grant we are gratified by OBIC confidence in Scotts' commitment to their mission."

Headquartered at The Ohio State University, the OBIC was funded in 2005 by the Ohio Department of Development through an $11.5 million Wright Center of Innovation (Third Frontier) award, leveraged with matching funds from external partners. Bobby Moser, vice president for agricultural administration, The Ohio State University, in announcing the Scotts' grant said, "The use of novel bio-based materials as an alternative to nonrenewable resources creates economic development opportunities that build on the scientific, production and commercialization capabilities in Ohio."

About ScottsMiracle-Gro

With more than $2.7 billion in worldwide sales and more than 6,000 associates, The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, The Scotts Company LLC, is the world's largest marketer of branded consumer products for lawn and garden care, with products for professional horticulture as well. The Company's brands are the most recognized in the industry. In the U.S., the Company's Scotts(R), Miracle-Gro(R) and Ortho(R) brands are market leading in their categories, as is the consumer Roundup(R) brand, which is marketed in North America and most of Europe exclusively by Scotts and owned by Monsanto. The Company also owns Smith & Hawken(R), a leading brand of garden-inspired products that includes pottery, watering equipment, gardening tools, outdoor furniture and live goods. Additionally, the Company owns Morning Songâ, the leading brand in the wild bird food category. In Europe, Scotts' brands include Weedol(R), Pathclear(R), Evergreen(R), Levington(R), Miracle-Gro(R), KB(R), Fertiligene(R) and Substral(R). For additional information, visit us at http://www.scotts.com/. 

DATASOURCE: Scotts Miracle-Gro Company



CONTACT:  Su Lok of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, [phone],

; or Stephen Myers, Director of Ohio BioProducts Innovation

Center, [phone],  



Web site:  http://www.scotts.com/ 

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