“AgConnect has been a part of our farm. We’ve kind of grown our farm as AgConnect has grown over the years,” shared Sue Miller of Birchrun Hills Farm. Her son, Randy, has volunteered as a member of the AgConnect board this past year, and the family participated in many AgConnect funded trainings this past year.

Farmers and business owners gathered recently at the Chester County Economic Development Council (CCEDC)  to learn more about the PA Department of Labor and Industry’s Sector Strategies initiative – the next generations of industry partnerships. While AgConnect, a CCEDC initiative,  has been actively providing business development services to farm and food businesses for more than a decade, the partnership will be shifting its paradigm. 

In the new, relaunched model, employers, like Birchrun Hills Farm and KattandMathy Farm, an Angus beef cattle farm and farm-to-table food truck business, will lead initiatives critical to the industry, supported by public partners like Penn State Extension, University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center, and the Chester Delaware County Farm Bureau.

Of course, other historic partners like the Chester and Berks County Workforce Development Boards, Chester County Ag Council, and Berks County Department of Agriculture will also be supporting the business-identified priorities that included regulations, workforce, and consumer education.

Action teams are being formed, additional businesses are being recruited to assist the teams, and excitement is at an all-time high as AgConnect prepares for a collaborative and productive new year.  

To learn more about AgConnect or agriculture in the region, please visit www.agconnectpa.org.