2014 January Letter - National Association of Institutional

January 2014
t box.]
National Association of Institutional Agribusiness
Lin Paul, NAIA Secretary
2010 E. NY Street
Indianapolis, IN, 46201
317-796-2588
EXECUTIVE
DIRECTORS
Year Ending Fall 2014
Jeff Ropp/OK Fed. El Reno Farm
President
405-205-6279
[email protected]
Board Term: 2013-2015
Brenda Marino/CO DOC Agri.
Past President
719-269-4512
[email protected]
Board Term: 2013-2015
Robert Sanchez, FL/Manatee Agri.
941-747-0660
[email protected]
Board Term: 2012-2014
Davey Farobaugh/AR DOC Agri.
870-850-8458
[email protected]
Board Term: 2014/15/16
Fred Hayes, CA Fed. Lompoc Farm
Board Member
805-735-2771
[email protected]
Board Term: 2014/15/16
Andy Farley, OH
Board Member
740-352-0123
[email protected]
Board Term: 2012-2014
Joe English/GA DOC Agri.
Board Member
404-245-8091
NAIA Newsletter
The National Association of Institutional Agribusiness (NAIA) strives to meet the educational, networking,
and professional growth needs of its membership, which is comprised of correctional and other institutional
agribusiness professionals employed by federal, state, and local institutions
Dear Fellow NAIA Members:
Brrr. It is cold here in Oklahoma as I dictate this letter. I am complaining about 3” of
snow and 5 degree temperatures. I know a lot of your operations have it much worse
but it doesn’t make it any warmer here.
We had a great 2013 NAIA Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. A good turnout
from various prison agribusiness operations and a great program was offered. I have
to commend outgoing NAIA President Brenda Marino for putting together an
effective team of NAIA staff and volunteers to make such a large and impressive
conference such a success.
Special thanks and appreciation goes to Steve Strahan from Arkansas DOC. Steve
has the organizing talents of a Fortune 500 CEO. No doubt the ultimate success of
the Nashville Conference was due to his foresight and organizing abilities.
THANKS!
The 2014 NAIA Conference is going to be held in Colorado on Monday
September 8th thru Thursday September 11th. There are states that have
cut back on prison agribusiness enterprises due to encroaching suburbia,
poor business practices, politics and indifference. However you will not find
that happening in Colorado. Plan on visiting Colorado in September to see
the differences innovation can make.
What happens next for the NAIA? An exciting NAIA Conference is planned for
Monday September 8th thru Thursday September 11th in Colorado. Knowing the
quality and quantity of prison enterprises in Colorado we will draw in a large crowd
of interested visitors. We will see you there.
Jeff Ropp
NAIA President (OK)
[email protected]
Board Term: 2011-2013
Lin Paul, IN/DOC Agri.
Board Member - Secretary
317-796-2588
[email protected]
Board Term: Appointed Annually
Stanley Brooks, MS
Board Member - Treasurer
662-745-6611
[email protected]
Board Term: Appointed Annually
Mark McCown, AR-Agri.
Emeritus
870-850-8453
[email protected]
Board Term:
Appointed Annually
NAIA PURPOSE:
www.naiaweb.com
www.naiaweb.com
“To promote the pooling and sharing of meaningful information; to preserve the integrity of institutional agribusiness; and
to provide the resources for personal development of agribusiness professionals.”
With over 1,000 milking cows, over 500 milking goats, Colorado has started milking water buffalo.
Inside this issue: Page 2 – Hell hath no fury- Page 3 –Tennessee Conference Wrap-up - Page 7 – Prison
Ag Info - Page 8 -Letter from the NAIA President
Hell hath no fury like…
It happened forty-one years ago, though it seems just like yesterday. She (Alice) was 16
and I was 17. She walked up to me and out of the blue she said, “You have pimples.” I
guess that was sort of rude of her. But the comment was true. In my brilliance I said,
“Well, you are fat.”
In a millisecond Alice swung with an open hand that landed on my face an incredible slap
that startled the bejeebers out of me. I remember standing there another second, then
turned around and walked away. If she had been a boy I would have swung back but
obviously with her being a female you don’t hit back.
Who was in the wrong in the above situation? In the above true life scenario it turned out
to be me. You would not believe the comments that I heard the following days – "You
know you shouldn’t call girls fat" or "What’s wrong with you anyway calling girls fat?"
It happened again the other day. Someone (from a competing prison organization) told
me they went to the NAIA website and they had a low opinion of the website because (I
maintain the website) the only conference photos pictures were from 2007 and here it was
2012. I made some excuse about taking over the website and I had put subsequent
conference pictures elsewhere on the website. However I made the mistake to go on and
make another comment just like I did 40 years ago, just being honest, I said. “Well, you
know I think your publication is BORING.”
Oh boy, Hell froze over and then cracked apart in a millisecond and then things got pretty
cold again. And then people started coming up to me and saying you really offended
what’s his name when you made disparaging comments about his publication. I tried a
different tactic this time versus 40 years ago. I said, “Well it is.” And went on to tell and
show why their publication was boring.
Right or wrong is immaterial. We all have things we stick to and we don’t like to be
taken out of our comfort zones. Probably a good reason to visit other prisons, to see how
they do things, to get us out of our comfort zones. The only problem is we don’t like to
be told we are doing things wrong. How we handle comments and how we view new
ideas we see when we visit other places help determine if we become successful or not.
I saw Alice about six months ago (this is 41 years later). My pimples are gone and she is
still fat. Maybe the slap is what knocked away my zits. We all need a good slap once in
awhile to get us on the right track.
Retirement News out of Virginia
William Gillette, a long time supporter of NAIA and a statesman for the benefits of offering meaningful
work to inmates as a successful reentry into society has retired. He was the director of the large and
impressive Virginia Agribusiness operation for the Virginia Department of Corrections. We have been
amazed what Mr Gillette was able to accomplish in his career with the various food and farm
operations and the delivery networks he set up. The 2005 NAIA Conference was held in Virginia and
was an eye-opener that provided many ideas for other states to follow.
Kenny Raiford fills the Director's job vacated by William Gillette at Virginia DOC. Kenny, a long time
NAIA member has been the manager of Virginia DOC Farmer's Market, the hub of the large delivery
network for the items produced by Virginia's Prison Agribusiness program.
Of note, Kenny Raiford received the Billy Max Moore Award for his service and management abilities
from NAIA in 2008. NAIA congratulates Kenny Raiford and wish him well in his new job duties
Kenny Raiford
JOB TITLE- Agribusiness Operations Director, Virginia Department of Corrections
EMAIL ADDRESS [email protected]
NAIA Conference 2013
Nashville, Tennessee
September 9 – 12, 2013
The NAIA annual conference was hosted by the NAIA Board of Directors in Nashville,
Tennessee with Steve Strahan being the conference coordinator. Nineteen states were
represented at the conference with 71 people in attendance including correctional farm
and industries staff, companions and vendors.
The conference convened on September 9th with registration, board meeting and dinner
and entertainment at the Wild Horse Saloon. Those who dared entered the dance floor
for line dance lessons and dancing.
Jeff Ropp, 2014 NAIA President
Entering Tennesse Cook/Chill Facility
Food for hungry NAIA members
Cook/Chill taste testing
The training sessions were held on Tuesday for the members and a morning tea was
hosted by Martha Ann Clark for the companions. The tea was so successful that it was
requested that it be made an annual event for the companions. Mike Studer, Tennessee
State Apiarist, gave a very informative presentation of how honey bees play a vital role
in the production of crops while making honey for our enjoyment. Lou Pitts Nave,
Executive Director of the Farm Animal Care Coalition of Tennessee, spoke to us on
Animal Rights and how it affects our dealing with horses and other animals. Annette
Wright, Quality Control and Food Safety Coordinator for TCC, gave a very informative
presentation on food safety in the correctional environment. The NAIA was very
fortunate to have great vendor participation at this years’ conference. Alan Davis and
Mark Hux with Bayer Health Care, Robert DeWitt with DeWitt Seed Company, Nick
Evans with FACCO USA, Inc., Amanda Everett and Ed Williams with Valley Services,
Gary Tanner and Tim Hardy with Tanner Farms, Rick Hartford, Pete Messmer, Mike
Schwenk and Eric Urben with Liqui-Box, David Lamon with Multimin USA, Inc., Ed
Schroeder with GloPak/Hood Industries and David Jacobs with H. Fox and Co., Inc.
sure deserve a big thank you for their participation in this years conference. Each gave
a short presentation on their company. Without the support of these vendors the
conference would not be a success.
Brooks Sumberg founder of Harvest Now spoke on his efforts to provide food to the
food banks by getting churches to grow vegetable gardens and to solicit the prisons to
donate extra vegetables to his Harvest Now program.
Tuesday culminated with a trip for all to the Grand Ole Opry where everyone enjoyed
the music provided by Craig Campbell, The Whites, Thompson Square, Del McCoury
Band, John Conlee, Love and Theft, Lennon & Maisy, and Craig Morgan.
Mark McCown, Brenda Marino, Joe English, Steve Strahan, Fred Hayes
Jim Heaston, Jeff Ropp, Curtis McCarthy (2013 NAIA Board Members)
Wednesday started with breakfast at TRICOR and a tour of their state of the art
cook/chill facility. The facility was very impressive and I’m sure that everyone left with
the idea of how nice it would be to have that at our facility. The tour then traveled to
Middle Tennessee State University where we toured their dairy facility and from there to
---continued on page five (5)---
the Tennessee Department of Agriculture for lunch and a tour of the Tennessee Department
of Agriculture museum.
An excellent band (Chris Canelli Trio) played for the NAIA
NAIA Conference training session
The annual prayer breakfast and business meeting were held on Thursday morning. During
the annual business meeting the newly elected board members were announced. The newly
elected board members are Fred Hayes/CA Federal BOP, Lompoc Farm and Joe English/GA
DOC Agribusiness. During the summer board meeting held in Colorado Springs, Carolyn
Peterson resigned from the board due to a change in her employment and during the board
meeting at this conference Steve Strahan resigned from the board due to a change in job
assignments within the AR DOC. These two positions were filled from the 1st and 2nd runner
up from the election results to fill their unexpired terms. Davey Farabough/AR DOC will fill the
remainder of Steve’s term and Robert Sanchez/Manatee County Sheriff’s Dept. will fill the
remainder of Carolyn’s term. There was a board meeting following the business meeting
electing Jeff Ropp as president. The other officers will be voted upon at a later date by the
board.
The conference concluded with a trip to the Ellington Agri Center at the Tennessee
Department of Agriculture for the annual awards banquet consisting of a bar-b-que dinner
catered by Corky’s and music provided by the Chris Canelli Trio. The winner of the Billy Max
Moore award was Don Troyer, recently retired Farm Manager with the Federal Bureau of
Prisons in El Reno, Oklahoma. We wish Don the best of luck in his retirement. Recipients of
the $1000.00 scholarships were Andrew Troyer, Kaidy English, Stanton Ropp and Ashley
Sanchez. Repeat recipients of a $350.00 scholarship were Jensen Ropp, Anndi Farley, Ellie
Troyer, Christina Sanchez, Smantha Jervey, Karlee Wager and Chelsey Wager. The NAIA
congratulates these recipients and wishes them the best in the continuation of their
educations.
William Gillette (r) receiving NAIA Career Award
Rumen study cow
Brenda Marino outgoing NAIA President 2013
In conclusion the NAIA wishes to thank the NAIA board, the Tennessee Department of
Corrections, TRICOR and the Tennessee Department of Agriculture for their support and
participation in this conference. A special thanks to Steve Strahan, AR DOC and his staff for
organizing this great conference. The training, tours and nightly entertainment were
outstanding and gave the participants opportunities for networking and companionship.
Congratulations on a great conference and hope to see everyone in Colorado for the 2014
conference.
Stanley H. Brooks,Director Ag Enterprises, MS Dept of Corrections
Steve Strahan presenting Billy Max Moore Award
to a well deserving Don Troyer from Oklahoma
Stanley Brooks talking to the 2013 NAIA
Conference about the importance of the NAIA Scholarship Program.