Topeka and Shawnee County helped build what is now known as the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor. Strategically located between Manhattan, Kansas, and Kansas City, Topeka is in the center of more than 300 animal health companies located along an innovation corridor stretching from Manhattan, Kansas, to Columbia, Missouri.  The Capitol City of Kansas is home to global pet nutrition leader Hill’s Pet Nutrition and Plug and Play Tech Center’s newest animal health accelerator.  Companies in the Animal Health Corridor represent 56 percent of total worldwide animal health, diagnostic, and pet food sales (USD $50 billion annually).

According to a 2014 Animal Health Corridor survey, companies with a business location within the region represent 49% of global pet food sales (USD $30.6B annually), and 56% of total animal health, diagnostics and pet food sales (USD $50B annually).

In 2021 Hill’s Pet Nutrition, a subsidiary of Colgate-Palmolive, completed a new USD $30 million, 25,000-square-foot facility dedicated to studying the nutrition, behaviors and genetics of small and miniature dog breeds, which are growing in popularity among pet owners.

According to the Topeka Capitol-Journal, Hill’s and Colgate-Palmolive executives, Gov. Laura Kelly, and other local and state leaders gathered Wednesday afternoon at Hill’s global headquarters in North Topeka to observe the grand opening of the company’s new Small Paws Innovation Center.

© Evert Nelson/The Capital-Journal Gov. Laura Kelly, third from right, stands with Hill’s Pet Nutrition president Jesper Nordengaard, second from right; Colgate-Palmolive president and CEO Noel Wallace, second from left; and others for a ribbon cutting at Hill’s new Small Paws Innovation Center in North Topeka.