Limagrain selects U.S. headquarters as part of expansion

Limagrain, Europe’s largest seed producer, has selected Fort Collins as its United States headquarters.

Frank Curtis, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Limagrain’s Fort Collins office said that the French farmers’ cooperative, which employs 6,000 people, is looking to become a major player in the U.S.
wheat industry over the next five years.

Limagrain, an international agricultural co-op group, specializes in field seeds, vegetable seeds and cereal products. As European leaders in wheat, Limagrain is looking to leverage its investment in wheat technology in other markets around the world, Curtis said.

Limagrain decided to start exploring the American market around three years ago based on a decline in public spending on agriculture research, which opens a window for private companies such as Limagrain to build a similar system of funding, Curtis said.

He visited all the major wheat-producing states across the country looking for a city that met the criteria of a wheat-producing region with a research university and a desirable place to live.

In July last year, Curtis visited Fort Collins planning to spend no more than two days here, however he was so taken by the city he spent nearly a week before returning to Europe to tell his supervisors he had found their U.S. headquarters.

Even with Nebraska and Kansas offering financial incentives to come to their states, Limagrain turned them down for Fort Collins. The company worked with the city and Northern Colorado Economic Development Corporation, but did not qualify for any incentives, Curtis said.

Fort Collins’ arts, culture, education, entertainment and high tech industry in the area all contributed to the company’s selection.

“The other thing really attracted me personally to the city was the fantastic level of independent business,” Curtis said. “The wonderful thing about Fort Collins is everywhere you go there is an independently-owned business.”