AURI details fiscal-year activity, expansion of bioindustrial and food services

The Agricultural Utilization and Research Institute reported to the Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee on its fiscal year 2024 activities, facility upgrades and its role supporting Minnesota value-added agriculture.

AURI board chair Federico Tripodi told the committee the organization refreshed its mission and is targeting $500 million in economic impact — measured as jobs, private investment and sales growth — by the end of fiscal year 2026. He said that figure would build on annual legislative support of roughly $4.4 million.

Shannon Schlecht, AURI executive director, described three program areas: commercialization services for small and medium food businesses and entrepreneurs, public applied research, and AURI Connects, the outreach platform that includes webinars and annual forums. Schlecht said AURI closed roughly 100 projects during the year, worked on about 200 ongoing projects and reached about 1,000 event participants and a similar number of on‑demand views.

Schlecht reported outcomes AURI attributes to its work: $187 million in new annual sales for Minnesota companies, 717 jobs created or retained, and $85 million in private investment that businesses made to scale products and processes. She described infrastructure and equipment upgrades funded with one-time state dollars, including elemental analyzers and mass spectrometry, expanded anaerobic digestion capacity and automated digesters, an expanded FDA‑certified food lab, and relocation to a larger bioindustrial innovation center in Waseca that approximately tripled available floor space.

Federico Tripodi outlined AURI’s board structure “as per statute,” noting board membership categories and recent turnover and additions. Schlecht detailed AURI’s four-site footprint in Crookston (administration), Marshall (analytical lab), Saint Paul (food science office) and Waseca (bioindustrial innovation center) and said staff are deployed statewide. She gave examples of client projects, naming StableFeed (equine supplements), Lightfield Barbecue Sauce, Cannibal’s (Cannon Falls) and B & T Meats (Wabasha area) as businesses aided by AURI services.

Committee members pressed AURI on outreach and equity, industrial hemp processing and construction uses, soy‑meal fertilizer research, staff budget and federal grants. Representative Lee asked how AURI reaches diverse communities; Schlecht said AURI works with stakeholders including Latin American development organizations and that food scientists sit on groups focused on serving diverse food entrepreneurs, and offered to follow up with more detail. Representative Smith asked about industrial hemp and hempcrete; Schlecht said the sector is in its infancy and AURI is piloting fiber uses (mentioning demonstrations with MnDOT and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture). Representative Burkel asked about soybean meal in fertilizer; Schlecht said proof‑of‑concept tests have been done and she would follow up with initial numbers. Representative Hansen asked about AURI’s budget and reserves; Mr. Savory (staff) provided a numerical total for corporate funding and Schlecht said AURI’s base funding is approximately $4.343 million per year and that AURI received about $700,000 in federal funding in FY24 and is not aware of federal payment issues.

Schlecht said AURI is not part of a collective bargaining unit and therefore does not receive automatic cost-of-living adjustments. Tripodi said AURI had an economic contribution study completed by the University of Minnesota in 2019 and the board is considering updating that analysis to reflect FY26 goals.

Committee members did not take formal action on AURI’s presentation; the session concluded with appreciation from Chair Anderson.