Life Microsystems might well be a poster child for a certain kind of economic development in the mid-valley.

Consider:

• This startup biotechnology company, with five employees, uses technology licensed from Oregon State University.

• It specializes in using (and then purifying, to a very high level) agricultural products that can be grown in the mid-valley.

• And, just like many other high-tech companies, it worries about finding enough capital - and enough lab space - to grow.

Life Microsystems, a Corvallis business founded in 2006, specializes in taking agricultural products - say, organic spinach - and running it through a process that results in very pure substances. In the case of the spinach, the result is research-grade chlorophyll that the company says is superior to products offered by competitors.

If you're wondering what the market might be for that kind of product, you haven't been paying attention to health and nutrition trends. The products that Life Microsystems can produce can be used for medical research: For example, the company has a contract with the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia to produce black raspberry anthocyanins for research.

And the possibilities don't end with the production of research materials. Life Microsystems might be able to tap into a growing demand for natural dietary supplements.

In fact, one of the challenges facing Life Microsystems in the next few years will be picking which path to follow.

"Making the right choice" will be crucial, said Scott Gustafson, one of Life Microsystems' core team, and that includes "which great opportunity you decide you're not going to follow."

John Mata, an assistant professor at OSU's College of Veterinary Medicine and another member of Life Microsystems' core team, agreed with that assessment: "For me," he said, "the whole process has been about partnerships, staying patient and focused." Life Microsystems has established working relationships with mid-valley companies such as Synthetech, Gene Tools and Oregon Freeze Dry.

And, Mata said, "I think I've called in every favor I've ever had." The company has done its share of lab-hopping. It currently uses lab space at ONAMI, the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute, and is pondering an expansion of that space.

Mata pointed to another key: "We've really assembled a good team."

Added Carole Jubert, a research associate at OSU's veterinary school and Linus Pauling Institute and another member of the company's core team: "We complement each other quite well."

And the company's expertise could complement an American trend: "What's interesting," Jubert said, "is that Americans will take a pill before they get out and eat a salad."

Given patience, focus, lab space to accommodate growth and sufficient capital, that tendency could pay off handsomely for Life Microsystems and the mid-valley.