Partner Summit
North Central USDA Regional Food Business Center Partners,
Thank you for attending the 2024 Partner Summit!
Summit Agenda
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Tuesday, August 6th, 2024
3:00pm – 5:00pm Welcome
IDI Assessment
3:00pm – 5:00pm Evaluator Interviews
6:00pm – 7:00pm Social Hour
7:00pm – 9:00pm Evening Banquet
Speaker: Liz Fiedler, Sunny Mary Meadow
Wednesday, August 7th, 2024
7:30am – 8:30am Breakfast Buffet
8:15am Welcome | Teresa Bertossi, North Central Regional Coordinator
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8:30am – 9:30am Keynote Speaker:
Jennifer Lester Moffitt, USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs
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9:30am – 10:30am Panel Discussion
Hand in Hand: The Connection between the North Central Food Business Center and Our Communities.
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Skya Ducheneaux, Executive Director and Dawn Lebeau, Program Officer at Akiptan
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Stephanie Blumhagen, Executive Director at Foundation for Agricultural and Rural Resources Management and Sustainability FAARMS
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Levi Welbourne, Regional Food Systems Coordinator at Latino Economic Development Center
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10:30am – 10:45am Break
10:45am – 11:45am Keynote Speaker: Monica McConkey, MA, LPC, Eyes on the Horizon
Agricultural Mental Health​
11:45am – 12:30pm Lunch
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12:30pm – 2:00pm Breakout Session #1
Room A: Amber Marlow (Misko-giizhigookwe), Tribal Outreach Coordinator for USDA-AMS Local and Regional Foods Division Regional Food Business Center Branch
Room B: Fawn Zimmerman, Managing Director, Council of Development Finance Agencies Advisory Services
Room C: Arlene Jones, Executive Director of Sprout
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2:15pm – 3:45pm Breakout Session #2
Room A: Amber Marlow (Misko-giizhigookwe), Tribal Outreach Coordinator for USDA-AMS Local and Regional Foods Division Regional Food Business Center Branch
Room B: Fawn Zimmerman, Managing Director of Council of Development Finance Agencies Advisory Services
Room C: Arlene Jones, Executive Director of Sprout
4:00pm – 4:15pm Wrap–up & Dismissal
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Thank you for joining us! Dinner on your own. Safe travels home!
