Company Overview of Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.

DuPont Pioneer, formerly Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. announced plans to expand two of its Indiana seed production facilities, adding a combined $26.3 million in capital investment and creating up to 41 new jobs by 2016. The Johnston, Iowa-headquartered business will invest $13.7 million to add more than 20,800 square feet to its Tipton, Ind. facility at 1000 W. Jefferson St., creating up to 20 new jobs. Also, DuPont Pioneer will invest $12.6 million to build 18,700 square feet onto its Rushville facility at 3258 U.S. Highway 52, adding up to 21 new positions. Both expansions, expected to be completed by October, will allow the company to condition and process its Optimum AcreMax family corn seed products.

DuPont Co. announced that it has asked a federal court in St. Louis to overturn a $1 billion verdict awarded to Monsanto Co. in a patent suit over genetically modified soybeans. Monsanto had sued Pioneer Hi-Bred, owned by E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Co., in 2009 for patent infringement, claiming it had combined Monsanto's Roundup Ready technology with DuPont's own Optimum GAT technology. Monsanto had claimed it suffered $1.5 billion in damage or more, and on Aug. 1, a jury awarded the company $1 billion. In filings in federal court in St. Louis, DuPont said Monsanto's patent for Roundup Ready seeds that survive its weedkiller Roundup is invalid and wasn't infringed, and the damages awarded Monsanto were too high. DuPont wants to have the damage award reduced or thrown out, or a new trial on the damages, adding that many of the legal arguments backing up DuPont's requests are sealed.

Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. announced that it will build two new buildings on its complex at 7,200 N.W. 70th Ave. under plans approved by the Johnston City Council during its regular meeting on September 17, 2012. The buildings will include a 59,000-square-foot office structure with a 32,740-square-foot research chamber, and a 24,000-square-foot lab and office building that will house a research group and serve as a seed storage building. The goal of the project is to increase the flow of research through the facilities in a way that will result in new product innovations in soybean research, Johnston City Administrator Jim Sanders reported while introducing the project to the council. The council determined in April that the project was eligible for tax-increment financing (TIF). The TIF program provides for rebates of up to 80% of the property taxes paid on the increase in taxable value from the project over a five-year period. Sanders stated that the project will cost $23 million, with the increase in taxable value estimated at $10 million. Based on the TIF formula, the maximum rebate on the project will be about $1.57 million, or $314,400 per year for five years. During a public hearing scheduled as part of the regular meeting, the council voted unanimously to authorize a development agreement between the city and E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Company. The 93 jobs to be created by the project all will be directly or indirectly related to the expansion.