A South Korean company specializing in soybean products plans to open an office in Iowa State’s Research Park.

Soyzen, a company that focuses on food and food additives, has developed technologies to maximize the nutrition of soybean products, said James Bloedel, vice provost for research administration.

The company’s lease started July 1 and it is planning to start with a small office staff to explore marketing objectives and hope to expand to a larger staff, Bloedel said.

The company hopes to gain enough people to run its own lab and eventually interface with labs at Iowa State.

For the past three to four years, Iowa State has been trying to recruit successful businesses from Korea to the ISU Research Park, Bloedel said. He said many companies from the area are highly interested in opportunities in the United States.

“We became aware that Soyzen was interested and felt that with some assistance and the right approach, we could get some companies here,” Bloedel said.

Bloedel accompanied Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack and economic development officials on a trip to South Korea last spring to attract Korean businesses to Iowa.

Soyzen is a relatively new company.

They have only been around for five to six years, Bloedel said. The company’s products have done well in Asia and are expected to do well in Iowa, too.

Soyzen is the second Korean company to come to Iowa as a result of the recruiting. The first was Pulmuone, in Grinnell.

Bloedel said three other Korean companies are considering the ISU Research Park as a location.