Highland County’s Ag is Everyone’s Business event set for March 1
At left: Shawn Hackett, ag commodities expert and TV and radio personality, will be the keynote speaker for this year’s Ag is Everyone’s Business Event set for Friday, March 1 at Boeckmann Farms in Hillsboro. At right: Melanie Wilt, Founder and CEO of Shift-ology Communication will be kicking off the event. (Submitted photos)
The Highland County Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce the presentation of the 12th annual Ag is Everyone’s Business event on Friday, March 1 at Boeckmann Farms, owned and operated by Jason and Amy Boeckmann, located north of Hillsboro.
This year’s keynote speaker is Shawn Hackett, ag commodities expert and TV and radio personality. Hackett has dedicated his life to educating ag industry leaders and farmers about financial risk management, hedging and the utility of indicator-based ag commodity price forecasting tools.
His extensive research on long-term cycles and statistics on climate, currencies, geopolitics and global capital flows have long been a key differentiating factor for Hackett’s price forecasting skills. Hackett takes complicated concepts and presents them in an easily digestible framework to a wide audience and discusses them regularly in his subscriber-based Hackett Agricultural Report and Hackett Dairy Report. Hackett will be presenting: “How weather, geopolitics, and other factors are influencing ag prices.”
Kicking off the event will be Melanie Wilt, Founder and CEO of Shift-ology Communication. Wilt is an expert PR consultant and communication coach who has led communications for state and international organizations in food & agriculture and aerospace.
As an accredited PR professional (APR), she is well-versed in all aspects of public relations but is expert in the practices of community relations, media relations and crisis communication. Wilt is a passionate advocate for agriculture and has pioneered applying neuroscience and virtual experiences to industry communication. In addition, she is a gifted science communicator whose teaching methods apply to health, education and manufacturing’s most difficult communication and business challenges. Wilt will be presenting: “Multi-generational teams that work.”
“The goal of this event has been to network Highland County’s business community with our county’s top industry, agriculture,” said Jamie Wheeler, Highland County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director. “This event annually draws together business leaders, farmers and youth looking to be involved in agriculture.”
Doors will open at 9 a.m., and welcoming remarks will start at 9:45 a.m. The event will conclude at noon with lunch that will be prepared by a local caterer and served by local FFA Chapter members.
Tickets for the event are $25 and can be purchased by visiting the Chamber office at 338 West Main Street in Hillsboro, calling (937) 393-1111, or can be purchased online at www.thehighlandchamber.com. Seating for the event is limited, so we recommend purchasing your tickets early.
Announcements about the event, as well as other Chamber activities, will be made available on www.thehighlandchamber.com as well as the Chamber’s social media accounts.
The Highland County Chamber of Commerce is a nonprofit membership-driven organization that represents the business community of Highland County. The many plans and programs the Chamber offers its investors, combined with county workforce development initiatives and local, state and federal legislative/advocacy efforts, position the Chamber of Commerce as a lead organization in Highland County. Learn more at www.thehighlandchamber.com.