DOWNERS GROVE, ILL. — Syngenta plans to build a new R&D Innovation and Customer Experience Center. The 90-acre site will be in Malta, Ill., near the company’s global and North America Seeds offices in Downers Grove. It will provide facilities for large-scale events with growers on corn and soybean technology and innovation, Syngenta said.

“This is a strong statement of our commitment to innovation and providing our scientists with the resources to bring the best products and technologies to solve the key problems that growers face,” said Trevor Hohls, global head of seeds development at Syngenta.

The new site also will spotlight how the company is transforming product development through on-farm collaboration with growers.

“I’m really excited about this strategic investment and how it will bring us even closer to the center of the US seeds market, as well as providing access to world-leading agriculture and digital talent in the Midwest,” said Justin Wolfe, regional director of Syngenta’s North American seeds business. “We’re committed to US farmers, and this site will allow us to collaborate even more with our customers.”

The new R&D center builds on Syngenta’s commitment to seeds research and development in the United States, the company said. With its global innovation center in Research Triangle Park, NC, the company opened a $30 million Trait Conversion Accelerator in Nampa, Idaho, last year.

Construction on the Illinois site will begin early next year and is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.