In 2013, the Washington State Department of Commerce designated the Skagit Valley as an Innovation Partnership Zone (IPZ), focused on Value-Added Agriculture.
The Skagit Valley Value-Added Agriculture IPZ nurtures partnerships to enhance the local agricultural industry, promoting innovative approaches that combine research and technology producing new jobs and a robust economy centered on the valley’s rich agricultural resources and heritage.
IPZ Goals

- Create a paradigm of farmers being price-makers, not price takers.
- Develop a rural character and quality of life that is sought after and valued.
- Preserve the productive agricultural land and maximize non-agricultural lands for development.
- Utilize innovative technology to keep Skagit County a viable place to do business.
- Develop innovative businesses that utilize Skagit Valley products.