February 2, 2015 – Organic agriculture and small food businesses have the potential to be a driving force in local economic development, according to speakers at the first Regional Economic Summit.
The all-day summit—titled “Inventing your Future Here” and attended by some 300 government officials, health care administrators, educators and business leaders—was organized by the brand-new Monterey Bay Economic Partnership (MBEP) in Seaside on January 29.
The purpose of the new partnership and the conference is, “To promote innovative regional economic development that builds on the distinct advantages of our region,” said MBEP co-chair Bud Colligan in his keynote address.
He said distinct advantages in the Monterey Bay region include: agriculture—the region’s largest industry; organics; and food & wine. Other key sectors identified as economic drivers and job creators were: marine science, technology, genomics, gaming, recreation, tourism, and language study.
A panel showcasing some of the most innovative food companies in the region was moderated by Edible Monterey Bay editor/publisher Sarah Wood and included: Kathryn Lukas of Farmhouse Culture, Brad van Dam of Marich Confectionery; and Gina Nucci of Mann Packing.
Lukas called for more leadership in the Small Business Administration to support young food entrepreneurs. “When I started my business I had to go to the SBA in San Francisco to find people who were super smart about building a sustainable food system,” she said.
Farmhouse Culture produces six flavors of traditionally fermented sauerkraut, loaded with natural probiotics, and is distributed nationally. (See EMB fall issue) Lukas said she is getting ready to move her business from Santa Cruz to Pajaro to be closer to where her cabbages are grown.
“Nobody across the country knows where Pajaro is and most of them can’t even pronounce it,” she joked. “That’s why we’ve got to develop branding for the Monterey Bay area as a whole.”
Van Dam said the Marich chocolate factory in Hollister is one of the best-kept secrets of the region. “Who knew that there’s a place producing 10 million pounds of chocolate each year in our area?” he asked. “Or that we source almost all of our ingredients from farms and processors within 2 hours of the factory?”
The chocolate maker urged local schools not to neglect vocational training for manufacturing jobs. “Not everyone has to go to college, we offer good quality jobs and there needs to be education to prepare workers for positions like quality control, that are very difficult to fill,” said van Dam.
Nucci urged public officials in the audience to better understand the needs of the ag sector in the Salinas Valley. “It’s very difficult to get homes built near our fields so that workers have a place to live,” she said. “The curtain between the peninsula and the ag district is a great divide.”
She said that Mann Packing, whose slogan is “Veggies made easy,” has found a niche in growing and packaging sugar snap peas. “It’s not quite the new baby carrot—but almost!”
Asked what they would have done differently, if they could start their business over again, the panelists came up with some good advice.
Said Lukas: “I would have hired more financial experts sooner for financial planning, so that I would know when to grow and when not to grow.”
Van Dam said: “I would have joined more trade associations sooner, to try and get the word out that Hollister is a real ‘chocolate bowl’.”
Nucci, who returned to Salinas to rejoin the family firm after working abroad, said: “There needs to be more pride in agricultural work.” Towards that end, Mann Packing has launched an educational campaign aimed at farmworkers and others in the ag industry. “We want them to feel a sense of pride, not only are they working to feed their own families, but they’re feeding the world.”
About the author
Deborah Luhrman is publisher and editor of Edible Monterey Bay. A lifelong journalist, she has reported from around the globe, but now prefers covering our flourishing local food scene and growing her own vegetables in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
