MSU Product Center receives Industry Ally Award

I would like to congratulate the Michigan State University Product Center staff on their Industry Ally Award. This award recognizes companies and organizations that continue to help make the food and agriculture industry a source of economic growth and pride. They received the award at the Michigan Food and Agriculture Awards event on Monday, April 9.

“We knew we were one of nine businesses and organizations that were being recognized with an Industry Ally Award,” said Brenda Reau, senior associate director of the MSU Product Center. “What we didn’t know was that we would be named as the overall award winner in that division. It was a wonderful surprise!”

The awards program is a collaboration between the Michigan Food and Beverage Association and Corp! Magazine. The Product Center will be featured in the next issue of the magazine that circulates to 20,000 business leaders in Michigan.

The MSU Product Center Food-Ag-Bio was established in spring 2003 with funds from MSU AgBioResearch and MSU Extension to improve economic opportunities in the Michigan agriculture, food and natural resource sectors.

Congratulations again, and thank you for all you do to help Michigan move forward.

Making a difference in MSU Extension District 6: Recap of the state council visit

Last week, I had the opportunity to travel north to District 6 along with our Michigan State University (MSU) Extension and AgBioResearch State Council. Shari Spoelman, district coordinator, and the crew in MSU Extension District 6 worked hard to give us a great overview of the programming, research and outreach going on in the district, and arranged for us to spend time with the people they serve.

For those of you who are new to Extension or unfamiliar with the council, we have members from all over the state who serve as a liaison between us and our county councils, field station advisory groups, and state agencies and organizations. The members come from various backgrounds: commodity group leaders, county commissioners, 4-H volunteers and farmers. We even have a meteorologist. The more they know about the work we do and the difference we make around the state, the better they can share the Extension story with our local and state decision-makers.

We began our trip with a chance to see the Kettunen Center, a conference facility owned by the Michigan 4-H Foundation. We heard about how 4-H and Extension use the center to connect with youth and volunteers. Chris Gentry, Kettunen Center director, provided us with a tour. We heard from Sara Keinath, youth development educator, and Jake Stieg, 4-H program coordinator, on the work they do with 4-H such as Mock Interview Day and 4-H Winterfest.

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Next, we traveled to B & B Farms, owned by Dan and Bonnie Blackledge, and heard about how MSU Extension and the MSU Product Center has helped them grow and market their canola seed and oil products. Jerry Lindquist, grazing and field crops educator, met us there to talk more about the relationships that MSU Extension has with specialty crop growers.

Dan and Kathy Blackledge talk about working with MSU Extension and the MSU Product Center to grow and market their canola products.

Afterward, we visited Hidden Hills Dairy with Kathy Lee, senior dairy educator, and saw modern technology and the results of MSU Extension input at work on the farm.

State council members tour the milk machines below the milking parlor at Hidden Hills Dairy.

We ended the day in downtown Cadillac with Marcus Peccia, the city manager, and Carla Filkins, the mayor, to hear about their partnership with the MSU School of Planning, Design and Construction; MSU Extension and the Michigan Municipal League to create a successful placemaking plan. Marcus gave us a tour to see some of the new efforts to make downtown Cadillac a place for the community to gather as part of the Heritage Plaza PlacePlan. We saw the new amphitheater, the outdoor fireplace, the park and the future location of the Cadillac farmers market.

State Council members and administrators in downtown Cadillac.

On Wednesday, Jill O’Donnell, a senior agriculture and agribusiness educator who has worked with the Michigan Christmas tree industry for over 32 years, joined us as we visited the Dutchman Tree Farm in Manton. We met with Steve VanderWeide, the owner, as he shared about farm operations and his connection with MSU Extension. We learned about the soil, tree growth process and market changes that characterize this area of the state.

State council members hear from the owner and his son-in-law of Dutchman Tree Farms after an introduction of the Christmas Tree Industry by Jill O’Donnell.

State council members hear from the owner and his son-in-law of Dutchman Tree Farms after an introduction of the Christmas Tree Industry by Jill O’Donnell.

Next we met up with Erin Lizotte, integrated pest management educator, at Arlene Hops to learn about hops as a re-emerging specialty crop in Michigan and MSU Extension’s efforts to provide research and support. Brian Tennis from the Michigan Hop Alliance answered questions about growing hops as well as the importance of having Extension as a valuable resource in moving forward.

State Council members get a chance to hear from Erin Lizotte about hop growing in Michigan.

We ended our tour at the Lake City Research Center with Jason Rowntree, Kable Thurlow and Jerry for a tour of the center and a chance to learn more about their research on forage-based livestock, potato production and bioenergy crop production. Jason is an MSU faculty member and Kable is a beef educator who conduct research and outreach at the center.

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Many council members expressed how important it was to learn more about the work we’re doing in this area of the state. It was an extremely successful trip, and I’d like to send a huge “Thank you!” out to everyone who made our visit possible.

You know, the most meaningful part for me is when we meet community members and hear how MSU Extension made a difference in their lives. Nothing beats that.

Making It in Michigan Conference honors entrepreneurs, director

The eighth annual Making It in Michigan conference and Premier Specialty Food Marketplace Trade Show took place Nov. 10 at the Lansing Center in Lansing. This year’s theme was “Ingredients for Success – Components and Processes for Safe, Sound and Smart Product Development.”

The Michigan State University Product Center hosts the conference. The Product Center was established in 2003 with funds from AgBioResearch and MSU Extension to improve economic opportunities in the Michigan agriculture, food and natural resource sectors.

Chris Peterson, Nowlin Chair for Consumer-Responsive Agriculture in the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, is the center’s director. Dean Fred Poston presented Dr. Peterson with a tribute letter sent on behalf of Gov. Rick Snyder. In the letter, the governor expressed deep appreciation for his years of dedication through his work with the Product Center.

Michigan State University (MSU) College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Dean Fred Poston (left) reads from the tribute letter presented to Dr. Chris Peterson, MSU Product Center director, (right) on behalf of Gov. Rick Snyder at the Making It in Michigan Conference at the Lansing Center in Lansing, Mich., Nov. 10, 2015. Photo credit: Kraig Ehm

The letter said in part, “On behalf of the people of Michigan, thank you for your dedication and commitment in helping Michigan businesses develop and commercialize goods in the food, agriculture, and bio economy industries. Utilizing the talent that Michigan has to offer is key to our comeback and reinvention. I am confident our state and countless individuals will long reap the rewards of your positive contributions.”

Product Center innovation counselors regularly assist entrepreneurs in making critical marketing, business and product decisions. As you view the following videos of Making It in Michigan award winners, you’ll get an idea of just how important the counselor-client relationship is. Watch as winners talk about the help and guidance they received from the Product Center. Agriculture and Natural Resources Communications television producer/director Kraig Ehm and Matt Birbeck of the Product Center produced the videos.

Click on the embedded links in the award title to watch:

Director’s Award: Mary Safie, president and CEO, Safie’s Specialty Foods

Barrier Buster: Joseph Oginsky, baker and business manager, Town-to-Town Gourmet Pastries

Value-Added Agricultural: Bonnie Steinman, public relations, Hop Head Farms

Entrepreneur of the Year: Brian Rudolph, co-founder, Banza

Start-Up to Watch: Jill Bommarito, president and founder, Ethel’s Edibles

 

Making It in Michigan Conference welcomes Kroger and Garden Fresh Gourmet

The seventh annual Making It in Michigan conference and Premier Specialty Food Marketplace Trade Show will take place Nov. 12 at the Lansing Center in downtown Lansing, Michigan. This year’s conference theme is “Fresh Thinking for Success – New Ideas for Building an Iconic Brand and Instilling Brand Engagement With Retailers and Customers.”

The Michigan State University Product Center Food-Ag-Bio designed this conference for those who are involved in the food industry as well as those who are looking to make their food business idea a reality.

The MSU Product Center website says that, “Conference attendees will be equipped with the practical knowledge and industry resources needed to move an idea from the concept stage to a finished and marketable product. Attendees will be able to evaluate and refine business ideas, connecting with industry experts that offer insights making their businesses more efficient and profitable.”

This year, the MSU Product Center is pleased to announce Garden Fresh Gourmet founder Jack Aronson and co-CEO John J. Latella as members on the keynote panel. Garden Fresh Gourmet is a Michigan business that started out as part of a restaurant venture, but has grown to earn more than 450 major national and international awards for its products, and to become the single largest producer of fresh salsa in North America. Both business leaders will share the company story and field questions from the gathering of entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Kroger is also a welcome addition as a featured partner for the event. Kroger and the MSU Product Center have collaborated over the past years in creating an in-store marketplace for Michigan-grown and Michigan-made products. Their support of Making It in Michigan is an excellent way to continue the partnership.

“We highly value Kroger’s initiative to create a dedicated Michigan section promoting Michigan companies and showcasing the diversity and assortment of great local food,” says Matt Birbeck, MSU Product Center’s High Impact Venture Action Team project manager.

It’s not too late to register! Conference registration includes breakfast, lunch, educational sessions, digital access to the educational sessions and reference materials, and admission to the Marketplace Trade Show. Early conference registration is $79. After Nov. 1, conference registration is $99. Vendor registration is $185. Register on the Product Center website.

The MSU Product Center was established in 2003 with funds from AgBioResearch and Michigan State University Extension to improve economic opportunities in the Michigan agriculture, food and natural resource sectors.

Extension educators talk business

It’s always great to be able to tell our story and get the word out about Michigan State University Extension’s contributions to the state’s residents. One method of communication is radio.

 Andy Hayes, MSU Extension educator in the Greening Michigan Institute and president of the Northern Lakes Economic Alliance, does a weekly Internet-based radio show on the Michigan Business Network called “Around the State.”

 His program airs every Thursday at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. It can be downloaded afterward anytime online as a podcast. Each session, Andy focuses on a theme and all six interviews that hour tie to that theme.

 On the May 8 broadcast, the theme was MSU Extension. Andy interviewed six MSU Extension educators including:

• Mark Breederland on the importance of educating to advance entrepreneurship
• Frank Gublo on emerging farm management
• Mark Hitchcock on the importance of supporting our own food systems to in turn support our economy
• Kathy Jamison on the importance of educating future entrepreneurs for overall career success
• Mark Thomas on the MSU Product Center
• Kendra Wills on the Grand Rapids Downtown Market

 Click on the following link below to listen to each 6-minute session: http://michiganbusinessnetwork.com/radio/Around_the_State

 Check out the Michigan Business Network website to listen to more shows that include MSU Extension educators.

 If you have a business-related topic you’d like to discuss on the air, contact Andy at ANDY@NORTHERNLAKES.NET.

 We’re grateful for the opportunity to communicate our message.

Making It in Michigan conference produces winners – including Extension

The sixth annual Making It in Michigan conference and Premier Specialty Food Marketplace Trade Show took place Nov. 12 at the Lansing Center in downtown Lansing. Conference host, the Michigan State University Product Center Food-Ag-Bio, celebrated its 10th year.

Michigan State University Extension was honored at the 10th anniversary celebration of the Product Center that evening when Product Center director Chris Peterson presented the Network Partner award to Steve Lovejoy, associate director of MSU Extension, who accepted on Extension’s behalf.

The award recognizes the recipient for outstanding support provided to the Product Center and its network clients.

“The partnering efforts of the award winner have allowed the Product Center to achieve a special level of service excellence that could not otherwise have been achieved. We express our deep appreciation for all of the support that MSU Extension provides from base funding to utilizing Extension educators as our innovation counselor network. We look forward to continuing this partnership that extends the resources of Michigan State University to entrepreneurs and creates economic impact across Michigan,” said Dr. Peterson.

 

At the 10th anniversary celebration of the MSU Product Center at the Kellogg Center in Lansing, Mich., Chris Peterson, Michigan State University Product Center director, (left) presents MSU Extension with the Network Partner Award Nov. 12, 2013, following the Making It in Michigan conference. Associate director of MSU Extension Steve Lovejoy (right) accepts the award.
Photo credit: Sharp Marketing Associates

Cherry Capital Foods with owner John “Chip” Hoagland won the Business Partner award.

The Multimedia Production Unit in Agriculture and Natural Resources Communications produced some videos that highlight the entrepreneurial winners at the conference. Click on the links below on each award to view each video:

Entrepreneur of the Year: Drought (Jenny, Jane, Julie, Jessie and Caitlin James and Bianca Colbath)

Start-Up to Watch: The Gluten Free Bar (Marshall Rader)

Barrier Buster: Morano Foods (Greg Morano)

Value-Added Agriculture: Hickory Knoll Farms Creamery (Rusty Plummer and Mike Metzger)

Making It in Michigan conference assists food and agricultural entrepreneurs, exhibits products

The sixth annual Making It in Michigan conference and Premier Specialty Food Marketplace Trade Show will take place Nov. 12 from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Lansing Center in downtown Lansing. This year’s conference theme is “Celebrate Your Business – Accelerate Your Achievement at Every Stage of Your Company.”

The Michigan State University Product Center Food-Ag-Bio hosts the conference, and this year the center celebrates its 10th birthday. The conference as well as the center assists the state’s entrepreneurs, producers, buyers and processors in the food and agricultural businesses in achieving success. The MSU Product Center was established with funds from the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station (now AgBioResearch) and MSU Extension to improve economic opportunities in the Michigan agriculture, food and natural resource sectors. Project GREEEN also provides funding. Chris Peterson, Nowlin Chair for Consumer-Responsive Agriculture in the Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics at MSU, is the center’s director.

At morning educational sessions, conference attendees will learn to refine and grow their businesses. Topics covered will include focusing on the product in the package, growing your specialty food business further, marketing your food product and keeping regulatory requirements in check.

Tom McIntyre, vice president of communications for Domino’s Pizza, will deliver the keynote address.

Conference attendees will have the opportunity to exhibit their Michigan-made food and agricultural products at the Premier Specialty Food Marketplace Trade Show, which will feature more than 150 new and existing businesses showingcasing their products. During the morning, the marketplace trade show is open exclusively to buyers and store owners, distributors, brokers and many others looking for new products to use or sell. In the afternoon, the marketplace trade show is open to the public at no charge.

Product Center team members will be on hand at the conference to assist and interact with participants.

One company whose owner is grateful to the Product Center is RNS Packaging, winner of the Michigan Business and Professional Association Award for being the Elite Sustainable Small Business in Michigan for 2013. The company manufactures premium nontoxic packaging while employing and retraining returning veterans. Founder Rich Daniels credits the Product Center with guiding the company’s mission and creating valuable relationships with dozens of business leaders. The company also established new sales outlets through participation in the Making It in Michigan conference and marketplace trade show.

Extension educator Joanne Davidhizar is Product Center Innovation Counselor of the Year. Joanne’s work focuses on product and business development in specialty crops. Read more about Joanne’s work here.

It’s not too late to register for the conference. Conference registration includes breakfast, lunch, educational sessions, digital copies of all presentations and reference materials, and admission to the marketplace trade show. Early registration cost is $79. After Nov. 1, the cost goes up to $99 and vendor registration is $185. Register at http://productcenter.msu.edu/miim/registration

Please promote this conference in your communities.

Read more about the conference here: http://www.sharpmkt.com/

Governor and new index show confidence in agriculture

At the annual Ag Expo breakfast July 16, Gov. Rick Snyder expressed his confidence in Michigan’s agriculture industry. The first Michigan Agriculture and Food Index (MAFI) was released at the Expo. The index shows that food and agriculture leaders share that confidence. Results from the index came from an MSU Product Center Food-Ag-Bio survey of 100 members of the Food and Agriculture Roundtable. The roundtable consists of farmers, leaders of agribusiness firms and food processors.

The roundtable and the index are just two elements in our efforts to be more responsive to the needs of our stakeholders and more accountable to decision makers in the way we respond. The Food and Agriculture Roundtable members will be polled twice annually to gauge their perceptions of the business climate for food and agriculture in Michigan. Although we are not suggesting that Michigan State University gets credit for when the index is up or should be blamed when the index is down, we ARE suggesting that the index should help us focus on the issues that might be the cause of a decline in the index and track how our efforts might influence those conditions.

Over the past 8 years, we’ve relied on one figure more than any other to characterize the strength of the food and agriculture industries in the state: the Product Center’s estimate of the total economic impact of the food and agriculture sector. In 2006, the Product Center estimated the total economic impact of the sector at $60.1 billion. In 2009, that impact had grown to $71.3 billion and by 2012, the estimate was up to $91.4 billion. That information will continue to be important – and the fact that this measure has been increasing reflects some of the same patterns that are reflected in the positive outlook this new index has documented. MSU Extension is one of the key funding sources for the work of the Product Center, along with MSU AgBioResearch, and the research coming from the Product Center helps us to better understand the needs of an important industry that we serve.

Product Center receives first place award

The MSU Product Center Food-Ag-Bio received the First Place MarketMaker Innovation Award last week at the National Value-Added Agriculture Conference hosted by the University of Arkansas in Rogers, Ark., May 19‒21. The Farm Credit Council sponsors the award, which recognizes innovative uses of MarketMaker.

Tom Kalchik, associate director of the MSU Product Center, (left) accepts the First Place MarketMaker Innovation Award from Gary Matteson, vice president, Farm Credit Council at the National Value-Added Agriculture Conference hosted by University of Arkansas in Rogers, Arkansas, May 19‒21

MarketMaker is a national partnership of land-grant institutions and state departments of agriculture dedicated to the development of a comprehensive interactive database of food industry marketing and business data. It seeks to foster business relationships between producers and consumers of food industry products and services.

The Product Center promoted the use of MarketMaker to the Michigan Food Policy Council and local food banks. This led to a national partnership between MarketMaker and Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity, which has partnered with many states across the country. The MarketMaker system streamlines the process of donating farmers’ surplus to those who need it.

Michigan State University Extension educator Tom Kalchik, associate director of the MSU Product Center Food-Ag-Bio, accepted the award on behalf of the Product Center.

Making It in Michigan Conference promotes and educates food and agricultural entrepreneurs

It’s evident that many creative and hard-working people live and work in Michigan – a good number of them building their own businesses. Many of those entrepreneurs attended the Michigan State University Product Center’s fourth Making It in Michigan Conference Nov. 1 at the Lansing Center in downtown Lansing. The conference promotes and educates food and agricultural entrepreneurs.

Prior to the conference, MSU Extension educator and Product Center Food-Ag-Bio innovation counselor Frank Gublo received the Innovation Counselor of the Year award. Innovation counselors are professionals from MSU and partnering organizations strategically positioned around Michigan to guide entrepreneurs as they make critical decisions about market opportunities and business and product development. Frank serves the southeastern part of the state. He has worked with more than 100 entrepreneurs in the last year, assisting them in business planning, navigating the regulatory maze, entering the supply chain and securing capital. In addition, he assisted clients in accessing campus resources for product testing, nutritional labeling and packaging assistance.

During the conference, nearly 240 people participated in the morning educational sessions. Two hundred people registered in advance, which meant that there were almost 40 walk-ins. With the state of our economy and all of the consumer interest in locally produced foods, many folks aspire to launch new food-related businesses. Sixteen individuals registered at the conference to become new Product Center clients. Additional requests are still coming in.

 Bob Fish, CEO and co-founder of BIGGBY COFFEE, served as conference keynote speaker, contributing an inspirational talk on entrepreneurship.

The afternoon trade show featured 160 vendor booths occupied by 141 companies. Two-thirds of those vendors were Product Center clients.

A number of buyers in attendance made connections with the exhibitors to carry the products in their retail establishments.

Westborn Market selected three exhibitors who won shelf space in Westborn’s three stores in southeastern Michigan. Winners included Dago Joe’s Specialty Foods of Macomb, Johnny Secreto Foods of Rockford and Esch Road Great Lakes True Foods of Honor.

The Product Center gives out annual awards that recognize their clients for special accomplishments. During the conference, the Product Center presented awards to three clients.

Ben Tirrell of Tirrell Farmstead Specialties of Charlotte won the Entrepreneur of the Year award. Ben exemplifies the new generation of farmers adding value to their operations by focusing on consumer-driven agriculture.

Ben Tirrell of Tirrell Farmstead Specialties of Charlotte receives the MSU Product Center’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award from Product Center director Chris Peterson at the Making It in Michigan Conference Nov. 1, 2012, at the Lansing Center in Lansing, Mich. Photo credit: Erin Groom

Michigan’s only sheep dairy, Tirrell Farmstead Specialties produces sheep milk it makes into artisan cheeses marketed to high-end retail markets. In addition to the cheeses, Ben produces pasture-raised beef and lamb he supplies to retail stores and restaurants. He also adds value to his wool crop by processing the wool and selling woolen items in the on-farm store. Consumers come to the farm for special events like “Spring Fling” and “Lamb Safari,” and enjoy shopping in the on-farm store. Ben also participates in several farmers markets.

Tony Menyhart of Easy Artisan Bread Mix of Tecumseh receives the MSU Product Center’s Start-Up to Watch Award from Product Center director Chris Peterson at the Making It in Michigan Conference Nov. 1, 2012, at the Lansing Center in Lansing, Mich. Photo credit: Erin Groom

Tony Menyhart won the Start-Up to Watch award for Easy Artisan Bread Mix of Tecumseh that he owns with Sally Gralla. Tony, a long-time amateur baker, developed the first recipes for his “One Bowl, One Minute” bread mixes in 2010. He began selling the mix at the Saline Farmers Market and later debuted his product at the 2011 Making It in Michigan Trade Show. His product began selling in retail stores in late 2011. Today, you can find Easy Artisan Bread Mix in more than 150 stores in Michigan. Tony intends to expand to other states.

Mike Busley (left) and Tim Rice (center) of the Grand Traverse Pie Company receive the MSU Product Center’s Barrier Buster Award for a Stage 2 Company from Product Center director Chris Peterson at the Making It in Michigan Conference Nov. 1, 2012, at the Lansing Center in Lansing, Mich.

The Grand Traverse Pie Company, started by Mike and Denise Busley,won the Barrier Buster Award for a Stage 2 Company. The company has worked with the Product Center’s HI-VAT (High Impact Venture Action Team) program that assists larger companies in taking the business to the next level. The Grand Traverse Pie Company has overcome many barriers in moving from a small company with six employees in downtown Traverse City to one that now employs more than 300 people in 15 Grand Traverse Pie shops across Michigan and Indiana.

Watch this ANR Communications video with Product Center director Chris Peterson. It gives an excellent overview of the services the Product Center Food-Ag-Bio offers clients.