HARTFORD–U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) announced that Enko, based in Mystic, was named August’s “Innovator of the Month.” Founded in 2017, Enko applies the latest drug discovery and development approaches from pharma to design safe, sustainable solutions that help farmers tackle today’s biggest crop threats like pest resistance and new diseases.

“From the impacts of climate change to new diseases and pests, farmers face serious challenges to keeping their crops healthy, their businesses thriving, and our country fed. The team at Enko is on the cutting edge of developing environmentally-friendly and sustainable ways for farmers to protect their crops. I’m proud to recognize their innovative approach, and look forward to their continued growth in Connecticut,” said Murphy.

“Connecticut farmers contribute $2 billion to the state’s economy each year, but they have limited options to protect their crops from the threats of pests, superweeds and new diseases,” said Jacqueline Heard, CEO and founder of Enko. “Growers around the world share this challenge. At Enko, we’re developing crop health solutions to tackle these threats on farms of all sizes. It’s an honor to be recognized by Senator Murphy as Innovator of the Month for this work. We applaud him for prioritizing Connecticut farmers’ needs.” 

Murphy believes entrepreneurship and innovation are the building blocks for a strong economy. In the U.S. Senate, he has introduced two bipartisan pieces of legislation to incentivize angel investors to put more money into startup companies—the Angel Tax Credit Act and the Helping Angels Lead Our Startups (HALOS) Act. Startup companies create an average of 2 million jobs each year.

 

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