The Christopher S. “Kit” Bond Science and Technology Incubator at Missouri Western State University welcomes a new tenant: Grant Company, a creative services company that like the incubator has a strong focus on animal health and agriculture. Below is a press release from Grant Company announcing their location in the Incubator:
Creative Services Company Locates in the Kit Bond Science and Technology Incubator
Grant Co. joins Saint Joseph’s Innovation Stockyard as part of the growing animal health entrepreneurial experience.
Things are moving fast at Grant Company.
Launched this spring, the company now provides creative services — advertising, communications and public relations — to a wide array of clients across North America.
“We’ve been blessed. We already have more work than we could have ever imagined,” says Eric Grant, the company’s founder and managing director.
The one thing the company didn’t have was office space.
That is, until Grant reached out one evening to the Kit Bond Science and Technology Incubator on Missouri Western State University’s campus in Saint Joseph. Mo. By the next day, he’d secured a viable headquarters – and a better future — for his growing company.
“We looked for months for a suitable location,” Grant says. “But most offices in the area required multiple-year leases. It’s impossible right now for us to know how much space we’d need in a couple of years, let alone just a few months. The Incubator’s professional staff provided exactly what we needed to get up and running – plus the flexibility we required to grow. We could tell immediately that they were committed to our success.”
The Incubator’s location was also perfect.
“The Saint Joseph/Kansas City area is home to some of the world’s leading animal health companies and ag associations,” Grant explains. “It just made sense for us to call the Incubator home.”
The company — like the Incubator— is also committed to contributing to Saint Joseph, a mid-sized city with a rich historical heritage and deep roots in agriculture.
“We live here. Our kids attend school here. So we wanted to locate here and play a small role in shaping the community’s economic future,” says Grant.
In fact, that’s what makes the new company a perfect fit for the Innovation Stockyard, an expanded initiative to welcome more ag-based entrepreneurs into the building. It provides innovative opportunities for individual companies to drive their ideas and services to market.
“The economic strength of Saint Joseph and ultimately the state of Missouri depends on our ability to attract new businesses and to help them be successful,” says Ronan Molloy, president of Innovation Stockyard. “A business like Grant Company not only generates jobs but also helps promote the use of new technologies and services that can help make agriculture more efficient and productive. It’s very exciting to have yet another new company in our facility.”
Looking ahead, Grant Co. is moving forward with a small but creative team of top-flight professionals.
Grant, who spent the last decade with the American Angus Association as director of its public relations department and then as president of its for-profit media company, is joined by Bart Ashford, who provided creative direction for a wide array of consumer brands like NASCAR, Coca Cola and McDonald’s; Crystal Albers, who most recently oversaw the American Angus Association’s advertising, marketing and communications programs; Jeff Meyer, who served the Miami Dolphins and Denver Broncos as a producer/editor; and Jena McRell, who worked as the digital editor for the American Angus Association.
Grant Co. now does work for a small but select group of ag-focused clients across North America, including a large animal health company in the Kansas City area, an ag technology company based in Canada and a leading ag organization based in New England.
“It’s exciting for us that we’ve attracted so many great clients in such a short period of time,” Grant adds. “But as everyone knows the key is not so much in the selling, but in the retaining of business. Without the productive work environment that the Incubator provides us, we would no doubt have great difficulty in retaining, let alone growing, business. It’s central to our mission and key to our continued success.”
Missouri Western State University is a comprehensive regional university providing a blend of traditional liberal arts and professional degree programs. The university offers student-centered, high quality instruction that focuses on experience-based learning, community service, and state-of-the-art technology. Missouri Western is located in St. Joseph, Mo., and is committed to the educational, economic, cultural and social development of the region it serves. Visit www.missouriwestern.edu.