Here is Sharron May’s Lakes to Land Regional Initiative: Farm and Food System Assessment presentation.~~~Our guest panelists were:
Sarah Lucas, Networks Northwest Regional Planning Department Manager, sarahlucas@networksnorthwest.org, 231-929-5034
Betsy Evans, Alliance for Economic Success Business Development Director, betsy@allianceforeconomicsuccess.com
Sharron May, Lakes to Land Regional Initiative, themayfarm@gmail.com~~~Other links:
A follow-up to Wednesday’s Economic Development meeting. Due to unforeseen circumstances beyond our control the next S.E.T. meeting needs to be moved to Monday, May 9th from 1:00pm-4:00pm. We hope that you can all still attend and apologize for any inconvenience this change may cause in your schedule. All the materials discussed during Session #2 are available online at http://www.allianceforeconomicsuccess.com/set. The prioritization at the end of the session resulted with the greatest interest in moving forward with planning strategies related to the following industry clusters:
- Agribusiness, Food Processing and Technology
- Information Technology & Telecommunications
- Arts, Entertainment, Recreation and Visitor Services
As promised, the attached “Homework Pkt” is being provided for you to familiarize yourself with the different types of community capitals as well as the contents of the economic development plan this process is leading to. Please brainstorm some ideas of the different types of capitals you personally bring to the table and the capitals that currently exist elsewhere in the region. Our next session will focus a majority of the time on identifying capitals available and discussing how they can be utilized to strengthen the three industry clusters listed above.
It is of utmost importance that representatives who know and/or work in these three industry clusters are in attendance for this session. The conversation about what is possible will be greatly improved if someone in the room knows or has personal experience working within the barriers of each cluster (regulations, laws, production processes, etc.). Please feel free to forward this email to anyone you know who may be able to offer their knowledge and experience with these three clusters on May 9th (or via email, phone or face to face before then).
- Valarie Handy| State Community Development Specialist |Public Affairs Director
- U.S. Department of Agriculture
- Rural Development
- 1501 Cass St., Suite A | Traverse City, MI 49684
- valarie.handy@mi.usda.gov
- Phone: 231.941.0951 ext: 102 | Fax: 231.929.7890
- www.rd.usda.gov/mi
Northwest Michigan Food & Farming Network 