Just a few months into the development of its miscanthus-growing Biomass Crop Assistance Program project areas, solid biofuels producer Aloterra Energy LLC sees the BCAP program’s job creation goal rapidly coming to fruition.
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Procter & Gamble and Teva unveiled details of a joint venture to develop branded generic medicines. P&G also boosted its full-year earnings guidance to include contributions from the venture, as well as a gain from the planned divestiture of Pringles.   Read More...

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon said he closed today on a third Chinese trade deal, this time a $200 million agreement with the government of Zhejiang Province, bringing the total deals reached this week to $4.8 billion. In addition to the $100 million in export opportunities, the agreement signed today also calls for the provincial government to help facilitate $100 million in direct investment in Missouri businesses, Nixon said.   Read More...

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon today signed another trade agreement with China, this time for $200 million with Hebei provincial officials. The agreement includes $100 million in Missouri exports to the Chinese province over the next three years and another $100 million investment in Missouri by Chinese businesses as well. Two St. Louis companies, Arcturis, an architecture and design firm, and Mediomics, a biomedical research firm, also signed agreements with customers in Hebei this morning.   Read More...

Emerson’s new Industrial Energy Group plans to convert huge power plants used in manufacturing facilities, refineries and foundries into bio-mass-burning hybrids to produce the needed energy to run these giant plants more cheaply and cleanly.   Read More...

Missouri has inked a $4.4 billion trade deal with China, Gov. Jay Nixon announced today from Beijing. The deal between the Missouri Department of Economic Development and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade will increase Missouri’s exports by $1 billion from 2012 to 2014, Nixon told reporters on a conference call.   Read More...

Gov. Jay Nixon today signed Senate Bill 7, the Missouri Science and Innovation Reinvestment Act (MOSIRA), passed by the General Assembly during the special session. Passage of the MOSIRA bill was one of the key elements in Gov. Nixon's call for a special session, and he praised the bill as an important tool to create the jobs of the future in Missouri.   Read More...

Investments in startups by venture capitalists increased in Missouri in the third quarter but declined in Kansas, the Kansas City Business Journal reports. Venture capitalists signed five deals for a total of $92.1 million in the third quarter, according to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and the National Venture Capital Association. That compared with three deals worth $7.7 million during the second quarter.   Read More...

Abbott Laboratories is spinning off its branded drug business and will become two separate medical companies, the Chicago Tribune reports. The spinoff will exclusively sell Abbott's branded pharmaceuticals. Abbott CEO Miles White will continue to lead the rest of the medical device company.   Read More...

The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center said today it won a $5.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop the oilseed plant camelina as a sustainable source of biofuel and an alternative to oil. Investigators at the Danforth Center’s Enterprise Rent-A-Car Institute for Renewable Fuels will work to develop an enhanced variety of camelina that produces more oil per acre.   Read More...

Solutia Inc. said today it will buy Southwall Technologies Inc., which makes films and glass products for automotive, electronic and architectural markets, including screens for smartphones and e-readers, for $113 million. The deal to acquire Palo Alto, Calif.-based Southwall for $13.60 per share of Southwall common stock will be funded by Solutia from existing cash on hand, the St. Louis-based company said.   Read More...

Cerner Corp. has agreed to buy Clairvia Inc., a North Carolina company whose software helps health care organizations coordinate staffing, the Kansas City Business Journal reports. Cerner, a health care technology company based in North Kansas City, said the purchase of Clairvia should close in October.   Read More...

Climate scientists and their billionaire backers, like Bill Gates, are trying to turn down the global thermostat - and make money doing it.   Read More...

The Department of Defense awarded a contract worth up to $11.7 billion to Boeing for support and maintenance of its C-17 aircraft to the U.S. military and global allies, the St. Louis Business Journal reports. Boeing's defense unit, which builds the C-17, is based in St. Louis.   Read More...

A northern Missouri college of osteopathic medicine has approved a $26 million bond issue to build a dental school.   Read More...

A city official said last week that when a project to install 12 acres’ worth of solar panels in Columbia is complete, the city could become a leading community in the United States for solar power capacity.   Read More...

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co said it will acquire Harleysville Group for about $760 million to expand its reach in commercial insurance lines of business and add capacity on the U.S. East Coast.   Read More...

Missouri’s report card doesn’t look too bad. The U.S. Department of Education’s State of the States in Education report shows 83 percent of high school students are graduating, well above the 75.5 national average. That figure puts the state in ninth place the nation.   Read More...

Alliant Techsystems Inc.has received a contract worth at least $58.7 million to provide the U.S. Army with ammunition.   Read More...

The Coalition for Plant and Life Sciences if evolving into BioSTL, a new organization to promote the growth of bioscience business in the St. Louis area, and has received an initial $30 million funding commitment.   Read More...