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Love To the Little Ones Hill’s brings heart to the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor.
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Kansas leads the world in animal health businesses. Photo: Gett y Images
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by G A R Y D A U G H T E R S
hether Yorkies, Papillons, French bulldogs or Pomeranians, America has fallen in love with small dogs. According to the American Kennel Club, ownership of small dogs, those that weigh less than 20 pounds, has surged since the start of the new century, even as numbers of large and medium-sized dogs actually declined in American households. In June 2021, Topeka-based Hill’s Pet Nutrition cut the ribbon on Small Paws — a $30-million, 25,000-sq.-ft. nutrition innovation center focused on the needs of small canines. “All around the world, there’s a steady increase in the popularity of small dogs,” said Dave Baloga, vice president. “The Small Paws Innovation Center will allow us to better understand their needs and discover new ways to help them lead happy, healthy lives.” The opening of Small Paws makes Hill’s the only pet food company in the U.S. with an innovation center specially designed for small and mini-sized dogs. The company intends to utilize the facility not only to study canine nutrition but also behaviors, genetics, genomics, and microbiomics to support food development. The Small Paws center is to eventually house up 80 small dogs that will have the benefit of specially formulated nutrition developed to their unique needs. An associated
KANSAS: TO THE STARS
Engagement Center will host seminars, continuing education programs and other activities for thousands of veterinary students and professionals each year. “We are always investing in technology and development to serve the nutritional needs of pets as well as learning from veterinarians, customers and caregivers through their experiences,” said Hill’s President Jesper Nordengaard. “This is how we fulfill our mission to help enrich and lengthen the special relationships between people and their pets and live our goal of transforming lives.” DINNER TIME YET? Hill’s Science Diet is the country’s No. 1 vet-recommended line of pet food products for both dogs and cats. Founded in Kansas in 1907, the company employs about 750 people with revenue of $2.2 billion. It operates food manufacturing plants in Topeka and Emporia, as well as Bowling Green, Kentucky and Richmond, Indiana. Over the summer of 2021, Hill’s broke ground on what’s to become its fifth pet food factory at Tonganoxie Business Park in Tonganoxie, just west of Kansas City and 40 miles from the pet food giant’s Topeka headquarters. The investment in the 300,000-sq.-ft. facility, first announced as $250 million, has since been expanded to
