HOME GROWN ECONOMY CONFERENCE

April 2, 2007

 

PANEL PRESENTER BIOGRAPHIES

 

 

 

Dorothy Rosemeier – West Central Regional Sustainable Development Partnership:

 

Dorothy Rosemeier lives near De Graff, MN and has served as the Executive Director to the West Central Regional Sustainable Development Partnership (WCRSDP) board since 2000.  Dorothy has a master's degree in education from the University of Minnesota, and an Bachelor of Science degree from the U of WI-Stout.  She moved to west central MN in 1978 for an Extension Educator position in Swift County.  Dorothy's passion for sustainable development stems from her interest in "grassroots" and "social justice" issues, which were influenced by her up bringing with eight siblings on a small family farm in southeast Minnesota.

 

Ruth Ann Karty – Southwest Small Business Development Center:

 

Ruth Ann R. Karty is a licensed Small Business Management Instructor and has been contracted to the Small Business Development Center at SMSU at Marshall for 15 years.  Karty's primary responsibilities are to provide one-on-one business counseling to start-up and expanding businesses.  She specializes in financial planning and analysis, loan packaging, and asking the hard questions that help Small Business Development Center clients reach an informed decision.

 

Carol Ford – Garden Goddess Produce:

 

Carol Ford began Garden Goddess Produce in the autumn of 2005. Her business uses the community supported agriculture (CSA) marketing model which directly links farmer with consumer.  15 families pay in the fall to have a "share" in the business and in return receive a weekly delivery of the produce Ford grows in her gardens and in her passive solar greenhouse from mid-October to mid-April. The farmer receives operating capitol when it is most needed and the consumer receives the freshest vitamin-rich vegetables possible—no small miracle in a Minnesota winter. Rather than spending food dollars on produce shipped from California or Mexico, Garden Goddess shareholders keep their food money right in their own rural community. This is home grown economy at its elemental best!

 

 

 

 

 

Terry VanDerPol – Land Stewardship Project:

Terry VanDerPol grew up on a diversified crop and livestock farm in western Minnesota.  She graduated from the University of Minnesota Morris in 1976.  She has worked for Land Stewardship Project since 1995, promoting whole farm planning and sustainable livestock systems.  For the past five years she has been working with the Pride of the Prairie collaborative to build a local food system in western Minnesota.  Through Land Stewardship Project's Policy and Organizing Program, she works to advance sustainable livestock and community based food system policy.  Terry also raises and direct-markets grass-fed beef in the Minnesota River Valley near Granite Falls.

Dan Struxness – Double D Natural Meats:

 

Dan Struxness and his family farm west of Milan, Minnesota in Lac qui Parle County. Their farm is a grass based beef operation and they strive for constant product improvement through forage and genetic improvements.

They direct market through Double D Natural Meats with Dan's parents, Don and Bev Struxness.  Double D beef can also be found in Milan's food market, Bergans.  Dan engages in a diversified marketing strategy by also marketing beef through 100 Hills Cattle Company.  In making decisions about their beef production and marketing business, Dan focuses on the future by producing high quality beef using sustainable practices that protect the environment and provide choices to the next generation of farmers.

 

Todd Churchill – Thousand Hills Cattle Company:

 

Todd Churchill has an extensive background in family farm-style agriculture.  He grew upon a farm south of Moline, Illinois and graduated with a Speech-Communication degree from St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN.  He completed additional coursework in accounting at the University of Minnesota.  After working in public accounting for several years, he formed his first company, CFO Insights, LLC, which provided Chief Financial Officer services on a contract basis to startups and small businesses.  Todd started Thousand Hills Cattle Company in early 2003.  In only 3 short years, Todd and his team have built an incredibly diverse customer base primarily in the Twin Cities.  Todd continues to both lead THCC and work closely with existing and new farmers and ranchers teaching them to grow and raise 100% grass fed cattle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jessi Gurr – Pomme de Terre Foods Coop:

 

Jessi Gurr has been the manager at the Pomme de Terre Food Co-op since June, 2005. The Pomme de Terre Food Co-op is located in Morris, MN and is dedicated to providing local, organic, and natural food to the Morris community. Recently, the food co-op has been working with local farmers and organizations to increase the variety of local foods they offer.

 

Jessi graduated from The University of Minnesota, Morris in 2004. In addition to managing the food co-op, she owns a website hosting and design business in Morris.

 

Sandy Olson-Loy – University of Minnesota, Morris:

 

Sandy Olson-Loy is Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at the University of Minnesota, Morris. Recognized nationally as a top public liberal arts college, UMM has deep roots in and strong connections to its West Central Minnesota prairie home. Sandy joined the UMM community in 1985.  She has worked to expand the college's many community partnerships into a promising collaboration centered on bringing local foods to campus.  She has been actively involved in the Pride of the Prairie Local Foods Initiative since its inception.  Sandy lives in Pope County's glacial hill country south of Starbuck and grew up on a farm in Morrison County.

 

Jim Ennis – Midwest Food Alliance:

 

Jim Ennis is the director for Food Alliance Midwest —a joint project of Land Stewardship Project and Cooperative Development Services— based in St. Paul, Minnesota. Jim is directing a team in the development and implementation of a new certification program in the Upper Midwest dedicated to promoting the expanded use of sustainable farming systems. Introduced in 2000, the program has certified over 85 farms and includes 55 grocery stores, 11 colleges and universities, and 15 hospitals and corporate campuses in the Upper Midwest. Food Alliance Midwest is the Midwest affiliate of Food Alliance based in Portland, Oregon.

 

Jim has over fifteen years of marketing, new product development, and project management experience; including leading cross-functional teams in marketing food and consumer products with The Pillsbury Company and The Clorox Company.  Jim has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California, Davis, where he studied Agricultural and Managerial Economics. He earned a Masters of Business Administration degree, with an emphasis in Marketing, from the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management just prior to working for The Pillsbury Company.

 

 

 

Don Kulick – Sodexho Campus Services:

 

For the past several years, Sodexho has sought to utilize local and regional farmers and producers for procuring in-season products for its operations nationwide, making sustainable goods available to its customers at campuses, schools, health care facilities, and corporate accounts, with units receiving up to 40 percent of their produce from local growers.

 

Sodexho USA (www.sodexhoUSA.com) is the leading provider of food and facilities management in the United States, with $6 billion in annual revenue and 110,000+ employees. Sodexho USA offers innovative outsourcing solutions in food service, housekeeping, grounds keeping, plant operations and maintenance, asset management, and laundry services to more than 6,000 corporations, health care, long term care and retirement centers, schools, college campuses, military and remote sites in North America. Headquartered in Gaithersburg, MD, Sodexho USA proudly serves as the official food service provider for the US Marine Corps.

 

Jim VanDerPol – Pastures A Plenty Farm and Company:

 

Jim and his family have farmed the family land since 1977.  The farm is livestock based with animals raised in pastures.  They have a retail/wholesale pork meat business using hogs produced in their on farm pastures.  All of the products are marketed by family members.  Jim is a graduate of the University of Minnesota and a Senior Fellow in agriculture systems.  He helped to develop the alternative swine system facilities and the research program at the West Central Research and Outreach Center in Morris from 1999 to 2001.