Participation Type
Discussion
Session Title
Cooperative Appalachia
Session Abstract or Summary
Cooperatives offer a more democratic model of economic participation than top-down business models, especially for single economic sectors of more rural Appalachia. Come hear why one set of land-based producers and allies chose to form a producers cooperative in Southern West Virginia, what research informs their decisions with respect to scope and scale, and their challenges for ag, value-added ag, and creative economy institution building where energy or energy adjacent industry still reigns. Engage in a discussion of their and your process for determining what kinds of business models, support for those, and other institutions their and your community might explore or found to offer bricks and mortar support for emerging economic possibilities. A brief outline will also be providing sketching out the vast array of support offered the energy sector in our region, and mapping out what kinds of support could mirror that for other economic sectors.
Presentation #1 Title
Cooperative Appalachia
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Cooperatives offer a more democratic model of economic participation than top-down business models, especially for single economic sectors of more rural Appalachia. Come hear why one set of land-based producers and allies chose to form a producers cooperative in Southern West Virginia, what research informs their decisions with respect to scope and scale, and their challenges for ag, value-added ag, and creative economy institution building where energy or energy adjacent industry still reigns. Engage in a discussion of their and your process for determining what kinds of business models, support for those, and other institutions their and your community might explore or found to offer bricks and mortar support for emerging economic possibilities. A brief outline will also be providing sketching out the vast array of support offered the energy sector in our region, and mapping out what kinds of support could mirror that for other economic sectors.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Crystal Cook Marshall finished her PhD in Science and Technology in Society at Virginia Tech fall 2017. Recently, with a group of farmers and their allies, she co-founded and became the inaugural president of an agricultural, sustainable spirits, and creative producers cooperative for the Southeast headquartered in Bluefield, WV. As an academic, she theorizes the rural industrial space. As a social change maker and entrepreneur, she works to buttress sustainable land-based economic sectors in this Appalachian sub-region. Additionally, she and her husband farm and raise livestock. Cook Marshall has a long history in education, non-profit, and working overseas.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #2
Amelia Bandy is a native of Richlands, VA. She graduated from Emory & Henry College in Mass Communication and then completed her MBA at King University with a concentration in Marketing. For the past six years, Bandy has worked in public health with the Virginia Department of Health. She has worked with the VA Dept of Aging and Rehabilitative Services as a Job Developer to help individuals regain employment after disability. Bandy began a health and wellness coalition in Tazewell, helped start a farmers market there, and also worked on farm to table committees in Tazewell and Richlands. Most recently, she has worked with McDowell County farms out of McDowell County, WV to market their CSA program for health dept and social services employees along to the community at large, and, at the Bluefield, WV, Richlands,VA and Tazewell,VA farmers markets. Bandy is the inaugural executive director for EDGE--a non-profit aimed at entrepreneurship education in land-based, creative, and tourism industries.
Conference Subthemes
Diversity and Inclusion, Economic Development, Education, Environmental Sustainability
Cooperative Appalachia
Cooperatives offer a more democratic model of economic participation than top-down business models, especially for single economic sectors of more rural Appalachia. Come hear why one set of land-based producers and allies chose to form a producers cooperative in Southern West Virginia, what research informs their decisions with respect to scope and scale, and their challenges for ag, value-added ag, and creative economy institution building where energy or energy adjacent industry still reigns. Engage in a discussion of their and your process for determining what kinds of business models, support for those, and other institutions their and your community might explore or found to offer bricks and mortar support for emerging economic possibilities. A brief outline will also be providing sketching out the vast array of support offered the energy sector in our region, and mapping out what kinds of support could mirror that for other economic sectors.
