The area between Ames and Des Moines is now being called the “Cultivation Cooridor,” as announced at a ceremony Monday in downtown Des Moines. 

Organizers of the Capital Crossroads announced their campaign to make Central Iowa a center for the bioscience and agriculture industries. The corridor will stretch from Story City to Grinnell to Winterset to Indianola.

Businesses, educators and governmental officials from Des Moines organized the process of marketing the project. The plan behind the Cultivation Corridor project is to have involved communities to attract companies to the area and create jobs in the bioscience field.

President Steven Leath co-chaired the Captial Corridor Committee that helped create the brand for the area that will highlight agriculture technology because organizers said it fits with the “natural strength” of the area.

Organizers said they feel the corridor will be the equivalent of Silicon Valley and the Research Triangle. Organizers also said they feel that the Cultivation Corridor will highlight and strengthen the economy of Central Iowa and all of Iowa.