FGCU - Lutgert College of Business - Center for Agribusiness - Winter 2022

TODAY TODAY Agribusiness Agribusiness

COMMENTS FROM THE CHAIR COMMENTS FROM THE CHAIR

Ryan Duffy

I am honored to serve as chairman of the FGCU Agribusiness Center Advisory Committee, which I believe has been a vital resource for the University and the Southwest Florida region. Special thanks to Jaime Weisinger for his service as chairman of the Center's AdvisoryCommitteeoverthelastcoupleyears.

The Center has much to be excited about as we look to the future: there is positive momentum with enrollment among students in the FGCU Agribusiness program climbing, and we are getting the word out to future studentsthrougheventslikeourfourthannualAGForum in November, which by all accounts was a tremendous success. The Forum brought together nearly 250 high schoolstudentsfromacrossSouthwestFloridawhohave an interest in pursuing an education – and eventually a career – in agribusiness. Students heard from speakers with non-traditional career paths into agribusiness and were able to connect directly with employers representing every facet of food production, delivery, supplychain,andlogisticsintheregion.

As the Center continues to attract more students, a new chapter of leadership at FGCU is set to begin with the presidential search continuing into early 2023. Our committee’s leaders have remained engaged in the process by attending candidate interview meetings and urging continued support for agribusiness and a recognition of the contributions made to FGCU from pioneering agricultural companies like Alico. Special thanks to board members Lindsay Harrington, Aaron Troyer, Matt Caldwell and Jaime Weisinger for attending the presidential search meetings so far. We remain hopeful the selection committee will choose another strong champion for further developing the program and continue what President Mike Martin startedbyestablishingAgribusinessasaminoratFGCU.

Also this fall, the Center’s leadership took part in the ribbon cutting event of the FGCU Water School. Working together, we can continue to build relationships among FGCU’s different programs, which like the agribusiness program are committed to furthering goals including sustainability and a shared commitment to improving water quality. We hope to be at the forefront of studying and improving the health of our water bodies, which impact tourism, growth, development, agriculture and qualityoflifeinSWFlorida.

On top of the Center’s many events, it is an exciting and importanttimetobeworkinginagribusiness,andIhaveno doubt FGCU will continue to offer thoughtful leadership to stakeholders in our state and region. Under Dr. Fritz Roka’s leadership,theCentersoonwillembarkonastudy looking at what agriculture will look like in our region over the next 25 years. The study will carefully consider all of the local, state, national and international dynamics impactingagriculturalbusinessesinSouthwestFlorida.

As we look ahead to 2023, there will be more exciting events involving the FGCU Center for Agribusiness in the near-future.Welookforwardtocontinuingtoadvocatefor our students, share industry news and best practices and help inform the center’s leadership as the momentum continues.

Center for Agribusiness rides on the

Student enrollment in our agribusiness classes continues to grow. During Fall 2022, four agribusiness classes attracted 51 individual students who collectively occupied 66 seats. The fact that fifteen students registered for at least two agribusiness classes suggests that we have at least fifteen students working toward the Agribusiness Minor. At least one student, Caleb Baker, graduated this month with the Agribusiness Minor.

Registration for Spring 2023 classes is well underway and to date we have 90 registrations across 5 agribusiness courses. A new class has been added to the spring semester – Southwest Florida Farm Tours. This class is designed to run 8-weeks from January 13th throughMarch3rdandmeetonFridaysfrom7:30amto 12:30 pm. The 5-hour time block will give us the necessary time to travel and visit various Agricultural operations in SWFL. For many students, this may be the first time they step foot on a farming operation in SouthwestFlorida.Whileweanticipatethatthiswillbea fun class, the students will be held academically accountable through research papers, company reports and a final exam before they can earn the class’ 3credits. Other than for tuition, students are not paying extra money for this class. A generous donation by First Bank of Clewiston through Miller Couse is covering the transportation and other incidental expenses related tothisclass.

Another strategy to raise student participation in the Agribusiness Minor is to partner with other FGCU academicprograms.EnvironmentEconomicsandSupply Chain Logistics are courses existing in the Lutgert BusinessCollege’sEconomicsandInformationSystems& Operations Management Departments, respectively. They will count as electives for the Agribusiness Minor. Another Agribusiness elective course entitled “Beans & Bugs” will be offered out of the Interdisciplinary Studies Department. These changes will add flexibility and attract more students from across the FGCU campus. In addition, an Agribusiness course entitled “Economics of Feeding the World” has been accepted as satisfying one of the “Social Science General Education” requirements. This course should attract several freshman and sophomorestudentstopursuetheAgribusinessMinor.

On pages 5-6, you will read about the annual AG Forum –showcasing career opportunities across the agribusiness/food supply chain. The Forum represents a long-term strategy whereby, we encourage high school studentstopursuetheiragriculturalinterestsbycomingto FGCU. Our motto continues to be: any degree from any department at FGCU can carry you into a rewarding agribusinesscareer. Picking up the Agribusiness Minor will onlyenhancethosecareeropportunities.

Fall

AEB 2104 - Economics of Feeding the World

AEB 2130 - Profitable Farming in Florida

AEB 3300 - Food & Agribusiness Marketing

AEB 3343 - International Food Marketing

AEB 2004 - Sustainable Agriculture

AEB 3133 - Principles Agribusiness Mgmt.

Spring

Any Semester

AEB 3144 - Agribusiness Finance

AEB 3933 - SWFL Farm Tours

AEB 4180 - Cannabusiness

AEB 3943 - Agribusiness Internship

AEB 3951 - Project in Agribusiness

TrevorTroyer,Ag-RiskManagementaddressing AgribusinessstudentsonCropInsurance.

The FGCU Center for Agribusiness Advisory Committee metattheFGCUWaterSchoolonDecember1,2022.

New members of the FGCU agribusiness team were introduced and included Ashlynn Dunn as the Center’s Marketing and Communications coordinator, and Dr. JackieEastman,thenewAlicoScholarinMarketing.Her research interests in “consumer behavior” should complement Dr. Tim Allen’s (Alico Scholar in Finance), whose current research has been directed toward urban orientedsmallfarms.

The Committee heard updates on the program numbers for the Agribusiness Minor and pending changes to the curriculum.Moredetailsabouttheprogramarediscussed in this newsletter. Also discussed during the Committee meeting was the Center’s 4th Annual AG Forum, which washeldoncampusonNovember16th-thefirstdayof National Farm-City Week. A Channel 7 news clip and collage of photos were shown, featuring nearly 250 studentsfromCharlotte,DeSoto,Glades,HendryandLee Counties interacting with representatives from fifteen agribusinesscompanies.

Staff announced that in 2023 the Center will be launching the 25-Year SW Florida Agriculture Outlook Study. Joining in this effort will be a newly hired FGCU Presidential Fellow – Dr. Barry Goodwin. Dr Goodwin is a professor of agricultural economics and holds the WilliamNealReynoldsDistinguishedScholaratN.C.State University. Dr.Goodwin willbeinvestingupto25%ofhis professional time working with the Agribusiness Center andtheWaterSchoolonspecialprojects.

ProvostMarkRieger presentedhisconceptforastudent run “agribusiness” focused on a branded FGCU ice cream company that features “Florida Flavors.” His previous experiences at the University of Delaware suggests that this type of enterprise could be not only a valuable learning-lab for FGCU students, but also able to raise significant dollars for the Center for Agribusiness and otheracademicprogramsatFGCU.

Dr. Roka and Ron Hamel discussed efforts to launch a campaign to raise funds for scholarships to be offered to FGCU students pursuing the Agribusiness Minor. They reported that they recently met with FGCU Foundation staff member Angela Kunkle to discuss strategy in preparation of the fund-raising project. Committee members suggested pursuing efforts to build a considerable endowment, which would provide lasting scholarshipfunds.

Mr.Hamel and PresidentMartin discussedeffortstobring former Florida AG Commissioner and current CEO of Ducks Unlimited, Adam Putnam to FGCU as a fund-raising event fortheCenter.

They reported that efforts to bring Putnam to the Water School as a keynote speaker and provide positive information about the private sector’s contributions to habitat and species conservation would be targeted for the Springtimeframe.TheconceptwouldbethattheCenterfor Agribusiness and the Water School would host an early evening reception followed by a presentation by Putnam Sponsors for the event and ticket sales would create the financialsupport.

FGCU’s 5th President. He reported that three finalists had been brought to campus in early November and were interviewedbytheBoardofTrustees(BOT).Aftertheformal interviewprocessendedonNovember2nd,theBOTelected to pause the search and ask that the Search Committee continuetorecruitadditionalcandidatesforthepresidency. President Martin has agreed to stay on as President through spring 2023. He also discussed the outstanding progress that FGCU has made during the past few years includingraisingthemostfunds,obtainingthelargestgrant in the university’s history, and building the biggest building (the Water School). President Martin noted that planning forthenext25-yearsatFGCUhasbegunwiththeinitiation of a new “strategic planning effort”. He suggested that FGCU would be making efforts to move up to an SR-2 academic institution. He also reported that he is interested in staying engaged through the Lutgert College of Business ontheprogressiveeffortsoftheCenter.Heurgedattendees not to “limit” the definition of agriculture strictly to productionAG.

The Advisory Committee adjourned for lunch at 11:45 a.m. Dr. Greg Tolley, Executive Director of the Water School, joinedthegroupandhostedatourofthenewfacility.

PresidentMartin updatedtheCommitteeonthesearchfor

CENTER HIRES MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS CENTER HIRES MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS

COORDINATOR - ASHLYNN

ASHLYNN DUNN

DUNN COORDINATOR -

AshlynnDunn, who earned both her Bachelor’s and MBA degrees from FGCU, joined the Center for Agribusiness team in mid-October. She has hit the ground running! “She has made an immediate impact on the Center's social media presence on Instagram, Facebook and Linkedin,” saidDr.FritzRoka,CenterDirector.“Ashlynnisthefirstfull-timestaffpositionthattheCenterhas hiredsinceitscreation,andweareexcitedtoseethebenefitsofhavingheronboard,”headded.

“Iamthrilledtoutilizemyeightyearsofcommunicationsandmarketingexperiencetohelpgrow theCenterbybringingcurrentFGCUstudents’attentiontotheprogramandcoursesofferedwhile also attracting Southwest Florida high school students to consider FGCU when deciding on their educationalpath,”Dunnsays.Growingup,herfamilyraisedavarietyoflivestockincludingcattle and have always enjoyed the rural lifestyle. She and her husband, Kole, now reside in Labelle, Florida.

YoucanfindlinkstoalloursocialmediaaccountsbyscanningtheQRcodetotherightwith yourphonecamera.Justopenthecamera,pointattheQRcode,andclickonthelink!

Scan Me!

Contact Ashlynn via email at adunn@fgcu.edu or

NEW ALICO EMINENT SCHOLAR - DR. JACQUELINE EASTMAN NEW ALICO EMINENT SCHOLAR - DR. JACQUELINE EASTMAN

JacquelineK.Eastman (Ph.D,FloridaStateUniversity)istheAlicoEminentScholarinMarketingatFloridaGulfCoast UniversityandservesasCo-EditorfortheJournalofConsumerBehaviour,an"A"leveljournal.SheiscurrentlytheVice President of Research for the American Marketing Association's Higher Education Special Interest Group. Prior to comingtoFloridaGulfCoastUniversity,shewasaFullProfessoratGeorgiaSouthernwhereshealsoservedasHonors Coordinator and Course Lead for the WebMBA Program. Her interests are in consumer behavior (luxury and sustainability), digital marketing, social media, and marketing strategy. She has published over 85 peer-reviewed articles in Marketing and her research has been cited over 8200 times per Google Scholar. As the Alico Eminent Scholar she is thrilled for the opportunity to apply her research skills to agricultural issues to assist the FGCU Center forAgribusiness.Sheisthedaughterofagriculturalchemist(JohnR.Kilsheimer,Ph.D.)whospenthiscareerworkingin theareaofagriculturalresearchanddevelopment.Shesaidthat"thispositionisanopportunitytohonorherfather's legacybyfurtheringagriculturalresearch."

phone at (239) 745-4695. Contact Jacqueline

phone at (239) 745-4736.

On Wednesday, November 16, the Center for Agribusiness welcomed 250 high school students from 5 counties and 10 high schools across Southwest Florida to Florida Gulf Coast University’s (FGCU) campus. 20 exhibitors, including privately owned businesses, government organizations and educational programs from different departments within FGCU and UF –IFAS (Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences), joined the Center in educating students about the many careers across the food chain. We were thrilled to have a large participation despitetheimpactsintheacademiccalendarduetoHurricane Ian. During the event, Ron Hamel read the Lee County FarmCity Week proclamation arranged by County Commission Chairman, BrianHamman on behalf of the Lee County Board ofCountyCommissioners.Theproclamationwaspresentedto Ricky Pritchett, president of the Lee County Farm Bureau. Tony Barnes, FGCU alumni and U.S. Sugar’s Director of IT Operations spoke to the students about his own career path intoagriculture.Wewerethrilledtohavegrownthenumberof student and vendor participants this year and are excited to seewhatnextyearbrings!

FGCU'S AG CENTER CONTINUES TO PROMOTE FARM-CITY WEEK

FGCU'S AG CENTER CONTINUES TO PROMOTE FARM-CITY WEEK

For the third consecutive year, the FGCU Center for Agribusiness teamed-upwithFloridaFarmBureauchaptersinSouthwestFloridato recognize the significance of “agriculture” as part of the 2022 NationalFarm-CityWeekpublicrelationsefforts.Thisyear’sFarm-City WeekwascelebratedbetweenNovember16th-23rd(alsoseetheAG Forumarticleonpage5-6).

The Center’s staff joined agricultural leaders and Farm Bureau members at Proclamation presentations in Charlotte, Collier, and Lee Counties and at the City of Ft. Myers. In Hendry County, JaredPlair, from the Hendry/Glades Farm Bureau organized the presentation before the Hendry County Commission. At each of the presentations,

During Farm-City Week, the Center's leaderships helps to extend positive messaging about agriculture from a “business perspective” throughoutSouthwestFlorida.

City of Fort Myers Proclamation

Collier County Proclamation

Charlotte County Proclamation

Lee County Proclamation

CENTER HOSTS FARM BUREAU, UF/IFAS LEADER ISSUES SESSION CENTER HOSTS FARM BUREAU, UF/IFAS LEADER ISSUES SESSION

The Center for Agribusiness hosted newly elected Florida Farm Bureau Federation (FFBF) President, Jeb Smith and newly hired UF/IFAS’ Southwest Florida Research & Education Center Director, Dr. Michael Burton for a strategic AG-issues planning sessiononAugust23rd.Twentyagriculturalleadersrepresenting FGCU, UF/IFAS and the Farm Bureau participated in the event heldattheLutgertCollegeofBusiness.

Lindsay Harrington, Vice-Chair of the Center Advisory Committee and member of the Charlotte/ Desoto Farm Bureau board, helped organize the meeting. FFBF President Smith highlighted water issues and AG advocacy as his two key issues duringhisfirstyear.

Dr.Burton shared his initial thoughts on how to “engage” with the region’s AG leaders and suggested that AG education needs tostartinelementaryschool.s.

FGCU's President Mike Martin pushed for collective efforts amongtheCenter,theFarmBureauandUF/IFASto“educate”the people west of I-75 on the economic and environmental significanceoftheregion’sagriculture.

CenterDirector Dr.FritzRoka updatedthegroupontheCenter’s agribusiness program and its efforts to attract students into the “AgribusinessMinor”.

Center for AG Students & Staff at the UF/IFAS Southwest Research Education Center Open House on 11/30

President Martin addressing dignitaries at the Water School Ribbon Cutting Event on 11/18

U.S. Sugar Express 12/8 - From left - Tom Super, Ashlynn Dunn, Lindsay Harrington, Cynthia and Fritz Roka

Center for Agribusiness

Farm Bureau's Ricky Pritchett and Andy Neuhofer Serving Ice Cream at the AG Forum

Professor Magnier, Dr. Eastman and Dean Westley at the AG Forum

AG issues discussion with Pres. Martin, Provost Rieger, Dean Westley, Pres. Jeb Smith, Dir. Michael Burton and others.

As FGCU celebrates its first 25 years as Southwest Florida’s regional university, FGCU’s Center for Agribusiness is about to begin a 25-year gaze into the future of Southwest Florida’s agricultural economy. Agricultureanditssupportingagribusinesseshavebeenan economic pillar for the Southwest Florida region. Several questions loom, however, as agricultural leaders contemplate the next 25 years. Will real estate and commercial development push farming operations out of Southwest Florida? Or, will agriculture continue as an importanteconomicengine?Andifso,howwillthecurrent agricultural landscape change? Underlying these and other questions is whether or not agricultural enterprises can be economically sustainable while at the same time contribute to the environmental and social sustainability of the region. Our Advisory Committee has charged us to completethe25-yearstudyduring2023.Theresultsfrom this study should capture the perspectives of the region’s agriculturalleadersandatthesametimeoutlineasuiteof research projects that will engage our Center for many yearstocome.

The Center is fortunate to have received fresh resources to help accomplish this mission. First, Dr. Jackie Eastman,whosebioisincludedinthisnewsletter, joined the FGCU in August 2022 as the newest Alico Scholar in the Lutgert College of Business Marketing Department. Herprimaryareaofinterestwillbeinproductmarketing and tracking consumer trends with respect to food purchases. Second, we have recruited Dr. Barry Goodwin to become an FGCU Presidential Fellow. Dr. Goodwin is a William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Scholar at North Carolina State University and will be investing up to 25% of his time to help initiate and execute agribusiness projects including the 25-Year study. Dr. Goodwin’s expertise in agricultural policy analysisalsowillbeappliedtoprojectsrelatedtoFGCU’s Water School such as assessing various economic aspects of agricultural BMPs, land conservation, and non-market benefits attributable to agricultural operations.

Our agribusiness program at FGCU is growing and we lookforwardtoaproductive2023.

Center Advisory Committee

Peter Hahn,

Stacy

Wayne

Ken

Aaron

Jaime