BRATTLEBORO — The sixth annual Slow Living Summit will take place in Brattleboro April 28-30 and will focus on food and agriculture entrepreneurship, with a number of sessions open to the public.
The summit is presented by Strolling of the Heifers, a Vermont-based food advocacy organization that works to connect people with local food and to support innovation and entrepreneurship at farms and food businesses.
Subtitled “How to succeed in business by slowing down,” the summit will offer in-depth explorations of key topics in food and agriculture entrepreneurship: business planning, funding sources, refining and pitching ideas, ownership structures, social impact, collaboration, and food and agricultural business case studies.
Shanta L. Evans-Crowley, the conference coordinator, said “the summit aims to bring together experts, policymakers, entrepreneurs, educators, students, farmers, artists and concerned citizens, in order to foster cross-sector conversations and collaborations.”
The summit offers five major plenary sessions along with more than 25 breakout sessions. The public is invited to attend any of the plenary sessions individually, with a donation requested at the door.
The plenary sessions are:
• Thursday, April 28, at 6:30 p.m.: New Chapter Founders, Paul and Barbi Schulick will share the story of shepherding their business (and their marriage) from a kitchen-sink laboratory to the sale of New Chapter to the largest consumer-goods company in the world and how practicing “slow living” has aided their process.
• Friday, April 29, at 8:30 a.m.: Former CEO of Ben & Jerry's, Fred “Chico” Lager tells the story of how Ben & Jerry's defied conventional wisdom in 1984 when it sold 12 shares of stock to any Vermont resident willing to invest $126 in the fledgling ice cream company.
Even without the benefit of the internet and social media it was arguably the first crowd-funded public stock offering. Lager will explain the lessons learned that are applicable to entrepreneurs' fundraising today.
• Friday, April 29, at 1:45 p.m.: Bob Wellington, senior economist for Agri-Mark Dairy Cooperative, and Gabriel Cole, founder of Fare Resources, discuss “Fix, pivot, close, or sell: Re-thinking the food and ag business model.”
• Saturday, April 30, at 8:30 a.m.: Will Raap, founder of Gardener's Supply, and Jovial King, founder, CEO, and creative director of Urban Moonshine Organic Herbal Apothecary, will discuss plant-based medicines, including medical marijuana, and whether (and how) Vermont's agricultural sector can be a leader in this area.
• Saturday, April 30, at 3 p.m.: The concluding plenary session features Matt Dunne, Google's former director of community affairs and a current Vermont gubernatorial candidate, along with Clark Wolf, a nationally-known, James Beard Foundation Award winning food and restaurant consultant.
They will address questions including: “How do we integrate the most modern and useful technology while avoiding many of the pitfalls inherent in the adoption of new methods that may have unintended consequences? How do we respect and incorporate ancient wisdom, hard won communal knowledge, and experience while allowing innovation to flourish?”
Plenary sessions will be at the River Garden at 157 Main St. Most breakout sessions will be at the Marlboro College Graduate Center.
The summit includes a Friday evening “story slam” called “Show me the money,” in which summiteers are invited to share funny and lighthearted tales about their food entrepreneurship experiences.
The full summit schedule, biographies of speakers and artists, and registration information can be found at the Summit website, www.slowlivingsummit.org.