The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR) and Halifax County (Va.), co-hosts of the 2019 Industrial Hemp Summit, announce that tickets for this year’s event sold out at more than 350 attendees. Held at IALR Feb.25-26, the multi-stakeholder collaboration focused on building the U.S. industrial hemp market, highlighting innovations and exploring necessary resources and infrastructure for industry development.
“Last year’s event attracted attendees from 10 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, Mexico and China,” said IALR Executive Director Mark Gignac. “We are pleased with this year’s sell-out event, which has drawn an even wider audience from 18 states, the District of Columbia, Canada and the U.K. With the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill and the increasing interest in this emerging market, we expect the size of the event to grow even more next year.”
Summit attendees included investors, economic developers, tobacco companies, entrepreneurs, medical companies and others interested in advancing the U.S. industrial hemp market. Industrial hemp is used to make a variety of commercial and industrial products, including health and natural food products, supplements, skin products, clothing, bioplastics, insulation, biofuel and more. Thanks to December’s federal legislation, U.S. growers, processors and others may now consider entering this versatile market as an opportunity for diversification.
“We are excited about the continued interest and growth of the U.S. industrial hemp market and are already planning for another successful summit in 2020 to continue this high-level conversation of hemp’s benefit to the entire supply chain,” said Blanks. “Information about the 2020 summit will be posted at www.industrialhempsummit.info when available.”
Panelists included a multitude of bioscience experts like Dr. Michael Timko, Professor and Lewis & Clark Chair of Biology at the University of Virginia, and Dr. Volker Bornemann, CEO of Avazyme (a Durham, N.C.-based laboratory offering field and laboratory testing, product development and consulting services to agricultural and food industries). They discussed genetics, hybridization and tissue culture cloning as well as cultivation, extraction and testing. Just some of the industry panelists included Erin Williams, program manager of the Virginia Industrial Hemp Research Program for the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services; Dr. Chad Ulven, Professor at North Dakota State University and CEO of c2renew (a bio-composite material designer and custom compounder); Kristin Adams, Founder and CEO of Afterglow Cosmetics; and John Rouklac, CEO and Founder of RE Botanicals and Chief Visionary Officer of Nutiva. Their discussion topics ranged from the state of the industry to market making technical fibers, consumer goods and textiles. Panelists rounded out the day with discussions of how to build and scale a hemp business as well as the future of the hemp industry.
For questions or more information on next year’s Industrial Hemp Summit, please contact (434) 766-6605 or info@industrialhempsummit.info.
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Click to View Day 2 Flickr Album
Finding Success in Halifax County
June 10, 2019
The Southern Virginia Higher Education Center was awarded a $500,000 tobacco grant on Thursday to expand its IT Academy, with the expectation of nearly tripling the pool of graduates who come out of the program ready to fill information technology positions in the area.
The grant by the Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission will pay for new instructors, four new courses, and a physical expansion to double the size of the IT Academy training area.
“We hope to begin hiring instructors in the fall and start class in the spring,” said Brenda Terry, chief financial and operations officer of the SVHEC.
The expansion aims to meet the increased demand for skilled workers by local businesses, particularly Microsoft, which operates a massive cloud computing complex in Mecklenburg County. Microsoft has committed about $200,000 to the project, and has made other, prior contributions — donating old equipment, providing scholarships for students, and even setting up a program whereby its data center employees can volunteer at the IT Academy.
“We appreciate the continued support of the Tobacco Commission and Microsoft,” said Kelly Shotwell, who serves as the program coordinator and as a trainer at the IT Academy.
The bulk of the Tobacco Commission funding will go towards hiring and paying for three full-time staff positions, easing the burden from Shotwell, who is the only full-time employee tasked to the program. She hopes to hire two instructors and a lab technician to help set up the hands-on labs that the students must complete to earn their certifications.
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