Farmers and agribusiness people in the region are invited to attend the Strategic Marketing Conference taking place in Lake Placid on November 7-8.

This conference will serve as an opportunity for those involved in producing and/or selling agricultural products to learn how to develop their brands and marketing strategies in order to increase sales. Speakers from around the state will share their knowledge and expertise in the areas of finding new markets, brand development for a competitive market, exporting, legal issues, and multi-channel selling strategies.

Lindsey Pashow, Ag Business Development and Marketing Specialist with Cornell Cooperative Extension offers the following overview of the conference offerings:

Developing a Brand for a Competitive Market Part 1 and 2: Developing a Brand for a Competitive Market is to help new and established farmers develop or improve upon an already established brand to compete in an always changing market. The session will be led by Sandra Krasovec from the Fashion Institute of Technology. Sandra has over 25 years of branding and packaging experience.

Exporting: This session will be looking at the various government assistance programs available to help farmers export product outside of the United States. The session will include discussion on participating in international trade shows and exporting overseas.

Marketing and Finding Additional Markets: This session will be focused on finding additional markets outside of a farmer’s current market. During the session we will hear from Baldor, a large distribution company out of New York City, Linda LaViolette from NYC Ag and Markets, and Yolanda Gonzalez from CCE Harvest NY.

Baldor, a major distributor, works with both small to large farms to acquire product. Baldor will talk about becoming a venue, expectations, and certifications needed in order to sell to a distributor such as them.

Linda LaViolette (NYC Ag and Markets) will be discussing her current and previous experiences working in the food retail and catering industry for 25 years. She will include information regarding preparation, presentation, and follow up in a competitive market.

Yolanda Gonzalez (Cornell Cooperative Extension, Harvest NY) will be reporting on the agriculture in NYC. This is key in order to gain an understanding of the current state of agriculture and how the rest of NY can fit into the NYC supply chain.

Legality Issues to Consider: Dana Stanton a lawyer at Nixon Peabody will be the speaker for this session and will be focused on the legal issues to consider when joint marketing. This session will include information about collaborative marketing and transportation of product.

Multi-Channel Selling Strategies: This session will focus on finding additional markets to sell in and finding the right balance for your farm. Wegmans and Price Chopper will be speaking about their operations and how they work with farmers.

Technology Adaption with your Brand: The Farm On Foundation will be speaking about adapting technology to fit your brand. This session includes information about how Google can help farmers to market their operation.

Collaborative Approaches to Marketing: During the Collaborative Approaches to Marketing session farmers will hear from Vermont Food Network and Black River Produce/Reinhart. These speakers will be discussing their collaborative approaches of working together to expand and market their operations.

The Strategic Marketing Conference is going to be held at the Crowne Plaza, Lake Placid. The conference begins at 9:30am November 7 and ends at 12pm November 8. The registration fee is $75 with reduced rates being offered to agricultural producers. Lodging is available and there will also be an optional dinner on Wednesday evening at Valcour Brewing Company in Lake Placid.

For more information and to register, click here. The deadline to register is October 31. Questions regarding registration or otherwise should be directed to Lindsey Pashow at (518) 569-3073 or lep67@cornell.edu.

Photo of Adirondack Farm Produce by Shannon Houlihan.