Cross-Industry Collaboration Focused on Soybean Research and Innovation
Rapid City, SD — SYNLawn Mountain West is proud to announce its innovative new partnerships with the South Dakota Soybean Research and Promotion Council (SDSRPC) and two higher education institutions, South Dakota State University (SDSU) and South Dakota Mines.
“We’re very excited about our groundbreaking collaboration with SDSRPC, SDSU and South Dakota Mines to advance innovations in soy-based products,” said Joe Makoutz, owner of SYNLawn Mountain West. “Both universities are coming together from opposite sides of the state to bring their unique perspectives and approaches to soybean research and innovation. Combining their different skill sets, along with the valuable expertise from SDSRPC, will allow us to creatively blend technologies to create new biobased products and benefit soybean farmers.”
One of the first projects resulting from their collaboration is the custom landscaping design that SYNLawn Mountain West installed on the front lawn of the new POET Bioproducts Center located at SDSU’s Research Park (2301 Research Park Way) in Brookings. It was unveiled during the facility’s Grand Opening celebration on October 11. The unique installation showcases the versatility of soy and features both SDSRPC’s South Dakota Soybean Checkoff logo and SYNLawn’s logo. The lawn installation was created using a combination of SYNAugustine 347, SYNAugustine 547 and SYNPlay 48. These premium products are made with SYNLawn’s exclusive plant-based EnviroLoc+™ Backing System, which is an environmentally friendly, multi-layer component system that locks in durable turf fibers and extends the life cycle of the turf. EnviroLoc+ replaces a majority of the petroleum-based polyol with renewable soybeans.
SYNLawn Mountain West also met with experts at South Dakota Mines on October 25 to discuss sustainability improvements and attend the Grand Opening of the Composite and Nanocomposite Advanced Manufacturing-Biomaterials Center (CNAM-Bio) at the Composites and Polymer Engineering Laboratory (CAPE) located at 920 East St. Patrick Street in Rapid City.
