A key initiative in 2022 includes the creation of a Regional Independent Food Processing Business Plan. The project development has been allocated public and private funds totaling $56,500, allowing a third-party consultant to be hired to develop the business plan. 

Schoharie Economic Enterprise Corporation (SEEC) launched the Farm and Food Advisory Council in support of the initiative to ensure the plan meets the needs of the local food production and distribution network. The goal is to have these experts guide the consultant and ensure the plan meets the needs of the local food production and distribution network, and thus, SEEC has invited representatives with expertise ranging throughout the food supply chain. Find a complete list of Farm and Food Advisory Council members below.

SEEC is thrilled to introduce L. S. Kahn Associates, LLC and Rick Osofsky, of Ronnybrook Farm, the collaborative consultants selected to conduct this business plan. The consultants will be busy in the coming months organizing interviews, collecting surveys, and conducting research. All parties involved expect to have a complete, actionable business plan published by the beginning of the third quarter of 2022. 

The focused service area of this project includes Schoharie County, Otsego County, and Delaware County.

This project has been funded, in part, by the Appalachian Regional Commission and coordinated by SEEC and their partner, Southern Tier 8.

Farm and Food Advisory Council Members:

Jim Barber | Barber’s Farm, Owner; Cornell Cooperative Extension of Schoharie Otsego Counties
Taylor Bogardus | Schoharie Central Schools; FFA Advisor
Seth Browe | SUNY Cobleskill Institute for Rural Vitality; National Professional Agricultural Student Organization
Ann Diefendorf | Dairy Farmer
Scott Ferguson | Executive Director, Institute for Rural Vitality, SUNY Cobleskill
Deb Fletcher | Cobleskill-Richmondville Central Schools, Agriculture teacher/FFA Advisor
Todd Heyn | New York Farm Bureau – CNY
Shelly Johnson-Bennett | Delaware County Planning and Watershed Affairs Department
Desiree Keever | Otsego County
Bill Kuhl | Carver Companies
Julie Pacatte | Schoharie Economic Enterprise Corporation, Executive Director
Dorothy Richter | Southern Tier 8, Regional Development Analyst II
Sarah Salem | Hudson Valley Food System Coalition, Founder; Dutchess Outreach, Director of Development; Councilmember At-Large, Chair, City of Poughkeepsie Common Council
Phoebe Schreiner | Center for Agricultural Development and Entrepreneurship (CADE), Executive Director
Duane Spaulding | Business Plan Consultant
Nan Stolzenburg | Community Planning & Environmental Associates, Principal; Proud Castle Farm (Dairy), Owner
Alicia Terry | Gilboa Town Supervisor; Schoharie County Board of Supervisors
Myron Thurston III, MBA, CFRE | Cornell Cooperative Extension Oneida County, Food Supply Chain Marketing Specialist
John VanDerwerken | Schoharie County Farm Bureau, President
Marilyn Wyman | Cornell Cooperative Extension Schoharie and Otsego Counties, Interim Executive Director
Amanda Clark | Schoharie County, Agriculture Development Specialist