The City of Salinas has been chosen as one of this year’s finalists for City Nation Place’s Place Brand of the Year award. As a global organization dedicated to the advancement of place brand strategies, City Nation Place selects top cities, states and countries for their prestigious awards. This year, the organization received more than 100 entries from more than 70 places across 16 countries.

For the Place Brand of the Year award, judges take into consideration all aspects of a community’s strategic branding efforts and messaging strategies. Home to more than 50 agtech startups and an $8 billion agriculture industry, Salinas was chosen thanks to the community’s widespread efforts to brand itself as the global epicenter of agtech.

“We’re thrilled that our City is being considered for this award alongside world-class competitors such as Barcelona, Scotland, and Estonia” said Salinas Mayor Joe Gunter.  “We’ve known for a long time that Salinas is someplace special, and being recognized as a finalist helps get our message out and show the world what Salinas has to offer.”

Since 2012, Salinas has partnered with place marketing firm Development Counsellors International (DCI) to promote the city as an agtech hub and a thought leader in the industry. With a goal to elevate Salinas’ profile regionally and nationally through positive press around Salinas’ agtech initiatives, DCI and the city have landed feature stories in the Financial Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, Fast Company, CNBC, WIRED and more. As part of these agtech marketing efforts, the City of Salinas also attracted the Forbes AgTech Summit, which has become an annual event since 2015 and has helped put the city on the map for agtech.

In addition, last year the city launched an agtech microsite – agtechsalinasca.com – with the goal to showcase the agtech opportunities that the city offers and serve as an inspiration for those looking to start, expand or grow in the industry. The microsite features information on workforce training programs, entrepreneurial resources, innovative partnerships and more.

The combined efforts of this brand strategy have helped take Salinas from a farming region to the forefront of agtech, earning it recognition from City Nation Place. Other finalists in the Place Brand of the Year category include Barcelona, Scotland, Estonia and several others. The winner will be announced at the City Nation Place Global forum in London on November 8, which welcomes 200 attendees each year from more than 30 countries.

Previous winners of City Nation Place Awards include London, Copenhagen, Toronto, Costa Rica, Faroe Islands, Luxembourg, The Hague, Finland, Tel Aviv and more. Follow the City of Salinas on Twitter for timely updates on the announcement, and visit City Nation Place’s website to learn more about this exciting opportunity.