Thomas Blaine, Editor

CD Colleagues: Greetings! 

I hope everyone has had a great summer.  We have some items in this month’s newsletter which address Extension’s involvement in some very important areas, including helping at-risk youth find productive career opportunities, enhancing relationships between local agricultural producers and restaurants, and the upcoming Ohio Farmland Preservation Summit.

Note from John B. Conglose, Interim AD, Community Development

Community Development Educators assigned to EERA’s have been meeting monthly to work on implementing the new OSU Extension Restructuring Model. Each CD Educator is working on Individual Plans of Work, further defining areas of specialization and developing strategies for delivering the many CD Programs that are available to clientele. In addition, they are exploring ways to work across the four program areas as well as incorporating Signature Program opportunities into what they do. The programs can be viewed on the OSU Extension Community Development web site at http://comdev.osu.edu/. Over the next few weeks educators will be developing and sending out surveys to clientele, first internally and eventually externally, in an effort to assess current community development programming needs.  Many of you receiving this newsletter will be contacted via email to participate. Thanks in advance for providing valuable input!

Our CD Educators are already busy delivering programming, engaging with clientele and pursuing opportunities, not only in their assigned counties, but now from regional EERA perspectives as well.  As progress occurs in the months ahead we will be highlighting many of the exciting programs and activities in this Newsletter

If you want to discuss programming opportunities please contact the following Educators:

Labor Force Initiative with Youth in the University District

Susan Colbert, CD Program Director, University District, OSU Extension has been working with a group of volunteers and staff on a project designed to assist at-risk youth ages 18-24 to pursue options for education and careers that they may not have otherwise considered. Many of the youth who are participating have little access to computers or training in the skills needed to enter the job market.   Colbert summed up the project this way, “Through this initiative, it is our hope that we will help them become the best possible individuals they can be as well as help contribute to the revitalization efforts underway in the community.”

The project has been undertaken with co-operation from the Godman Guild and the Central Ohio Work Force Investment Corporation (COWIC).  Godman Guild received funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (stimulus funding) to help accomplish its objectives.  Youth have been paid a stipend from the funding during their participation in the program.

Much of the initiative involves teaching the participants basic computer skills, including preparation of resumes, as well as money management and interview skills.  The project also includes bringing potential employers in to meet with the youth to discuss job opportunities with their firms/organizations.  One particular component of the project has focused on job skills related to the building industry, where youth have received instruction in painting, plumbing, and electrical work.

To read more about Extension’s outreach in the University District, contact Susan at colbert.22@osu.edu or click on the link below:

http://urbanprograms.osu.edu/success-stories/family/university-s-neighbors-benefit-from-extension-outreach

Chef-Farm Tour Makes Connections

On Aug. 17th, the Dayton-area local foods group, Miami Valley Grown (MVG), conducted its first chef-farm tour. MVG was started by the local OSU Extension office and is supported by EERA community development educators, with input from Ag, FCS, and 4-H. Representatives from five locally owned restaurants visited three growers in western MontgomeryCounty -- Mile Creek Farm - a CSA and fresh market grower, Tuken's Orchard and Market, and Stockslagers Greenhouse. Mile Creek, which will be certified organic next year, offered tastings of heirloom tomatoes and a tour of their gardens. Tuken's explained the value of Integrated Pest Management and served Gala apples, picked as the group walked through the orchard. Stockslager's exhibited seasonal plants and introduced the tour to a new herb -- a Cuban oregano.

The tour allowed growers and restaurateurs to discuss ways they could collaborate and support each other's efforts and understand each other's needs. For example, a grower who talked about losing crop value when a fruit was blemished began to see that a pock-marked apple which might not sell at a farm market could still become part of a marketable dessert at a restaurant.
 
Chefs are discovering more opportunities to purchase directly from local farms. Events like the chef-farm tour can play an important role in enhancing this relationship and stimulating local economic development.  If you have questions, please contact Brian Raison, Community Development Educator, at raison.1@osu.edu

10th Annual Ohio Farmland Preservation Summit Set for November 5, 2009

The tenth annual Ohio Farmland Preservation Summit will take place on November 5, 2009 at the new Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center on the Ohio State University campus.. President Gordon Gee will give a welcome and USDA Deputy Secretary, Kathleen Merrigan, will provide an address via video.

You often hear that farmland provides services beyond food and fiber production. The morning plenary will begin by asking the question: How can we begin to value these services? A panel will discuss the value of specific types of services, such as carbon sequestration and nutrient management and what selling and trading of these services mean for farmland protection. The afternoon session focuses on the role of farmland protection in balancing growth and restoring prosperity to Ohio.

Breakout sessions will address a variety of topics ranging from the basics of preserving the farm business, adapting to climate change through soil management, using surveys to gauge support for farmland protection, results from the latest census, to food policy and its relationship to Ohio farmland.

Registration materials will be available in early September.

If you wish to know more, check out the web site below or contact Jill Clark, Director, Center for Farmland Policy Innovation, at clark.1099@osu.edu or http://ag.osu.edu/Redirect/cffpi.osu.edu/summit09.htm

Dates to Remember:

Jennifer M. McSweeney Ohio Land Use Conference 2009 - September 16, 2009 - Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center, Columbus.  Go to http://comdev.osu.edu/ to register online. 

Farmland Preservation Summit - November 5, 2009 - Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center, Columbus

OSU Extension Annual Conference - December 16 - 17, 2009 - Ramada Plaza Hotel and Conference Center, 4900 Sinclair Road, Columbus

NACDEP Annual Conference - April 12 - 14, 2010 - Bloomington, MN