On September 13, 2018, Sakata em- ployees, customers, dignitaries, public figures of Yolo County and more came together to celebrate the completion of the Sakata Seed America Woodland Innovation Center. During the celebra- tion, attendees enjoyed dinner and su- shi prepared by local chefs as well as a traditional Japanese Sake Ceremony (known as ‘kagami biraki’) to com- memorate the milestone and chris- ten the new campus. A performance by the Sacramento Taiko Dan drum group, as well as speeches, rounded out the event. The speeches pointed to the rich his- tory of Sakata Seed Corporation and Sakata Seed America, and the passion behind the corporation and the for the products they create. During the speech of Hiroshi Sakata, President of Sakata Seed Corporation, who trav- elled from Yokohama, Japan for the occasion, he introduced two Japanese words: ‘gemba’ and ‘kodawari’ trans- lating respectively to ‘the real place’ and ‘special passion.’ Since announcing plans in March 2016, the Sakata Seed America Wood- land Innovation Center has been un- der construction to create an exciting culmination of infrastructure and land that enables Sakata Seed America to consolidate and expand R&D and production practices on a single, state- of-the-art campus. Flexible for future expansion in one of the world’s most dynamic agricultural regions, the cam- pus is dubbed the ‘Silicon Valley of Seed’ due to its close proximity to UC Davis and rich, agricultural history. The Sakata Seed America Woodland Innovation Center is an $18.5M invest- ment comprised of 219 acres in Yolo County. Sixteen of the acres house four main buildings designed by lo- cal principal Stantec Architecture ar- chitect, Matthew Shigihara. The four main buildings include: • The Head House, a shop for re- search and development that allows for washing and drying of breeder seed • Multiple greenhouses for trialing important Sakata crops, like hot pep- per, sweet pepper, tomato, watermel- on and melon • The Farm Shop, used for produc- tion maintenance and equipment, dry- ing of seed, and other farm related activities • The Washery building for washing, fluming, and drying all types of wet seed attached to the Warehouse The 25,000 square foot space houses the latest technology in seed processing equipment and the office building is LEED certified. The Sakata Seed America Woodland Innovation Center is the most recent addition to Sakata’s expansive North American research infrastructure, which includes stations in Mount Ver- non, Washington; Salinas, California; Fort Myers, Florida; and Sinaloa, Mex- ico. The Woodland Innovation Center will focus on Sakata Seed America’s rapidly expanding warm season veg- etables breeding programs and will host the company’s sales and market- ing events in the region, while bringing jobs and innovation to Yolo County. EXPANDING IN THE ‘SILICON VALLEY OF SEED’ The Sakata Seed America Woodland Innovation Center promises to continue innovation in a new, state-of-the-art campus in Woodland, California Attendees enjoy the Woodland Innovation Center grand opening event. Japanese drummer group, Sacramento Taiko Dan, perform at the grand opening celebration. Aerial view of the Woodland Innovation Center.