2016 Rural Grocery Summit

June 6-7, 2016, Wichita, KS

"10 Years of Being America's Youngest Grocer: Growing a business and sales in a declining area,” Nick Graham
“What I Learned about Rural Grocery Stores by Visiting Towns Across Kansas,” Marci Penner, Kansas Sampler Foundation

Accessing Funds for Your Rural Grocery Store

“Funding for Rural Food Retail” – Erik Pedersen (Network Kansas)
“Business Programs in USDA Rural Development” – Randy Snider, Katie Casper, Travis Snider (Kansas USDA Rural Development)
“SBA Loan Programs That Can Help You Start or Grow Your Business” – Doug Clary (Small Business Administration)

Business Transition: Succession Planning

“Business Transition” – Lisa Roberts (KSBDC Kansas Small Business Development Center)
“RedTire: Helping Save Rural Commerce, One Business at a Time” – Wallace Meyer, Jr. (University of Kansas)
“Farm Transition Model: An Approach to Small Business Success Planning” – Forrest Buhler (Kansas Agricultural Mediation Services)

Conducting Community Food Assessments

“An Overview of Food Assessments” – Barbara LaClair (LaClair Consulting Services)
“Live Well Saline County Food Initiatives” – Barbara Goode (KSU Engineering Extension Pollution Prevention Institute), Brenda Gutierrez (United Way of Salina)
“Crawford County FEAST” – Martha Murphy (K-State Research and Extension, Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program Educator)
“Community Food Assessments: Innovative Approaches to Building Better Food Systems” – Kathy Nyquist (New Venture Advisors)

Understanding Rural Grocery Owner Challenges / Customer Needs

“Rural Grocery Ownership in Minnesota: An Overview of the 2015 Statewide Survey” – Karen Lanthier (University of Minnesota, Extension Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships)
“North Dakota Rural Grocery Stores: Challenges and Opportunities” – Shirley Reese (Main Street Market, ND.)

Aggregating Food Operations: Food Hubs

“Building Rural Grocery Viability through Food Hubs” – Kathy Nyquist (New Venture Advisors)
“High Plains Food Co-op as Food Aggregator” – Leon Atwell (Advancing Rural Prosperity)

Accessing Funds for Your Rural Grocery Store

“Accessing Capital for Rural Grocery Stores” – Lisa Roberts (KSBDC Kansas Small Business Development Center)
“The Reinvestment Fund’s Financing for Winfield, KS’ Save-A-Lot” – Donna Nuccio (The Reinvestment Fund), Jamie Allen (Honor Capital), Christie Henry (South Central Kansas Economic Development District)
“Grant Writing for Small Businesses” – Shannon Martin
“Available Funding Sources for Energy Efficiency Project at Rural Grocery Stores” – David Carter, Yvonne Cook (K-State Engineering Extension)

Innovative Models of Rural Grocery Operations

“Farmhouse Market: A Small Market that’s Big on Technology” – Kendra Rasmusson (New Prague, MN.)
“The Butter Churn: Providing Real Food When Your Customers Just Want Cheez Whiz” – Stephanie Freeman (Woodhull, IL.)
“Hospitals and Grocery Stores Collaborating for Healthy Food Access” – Brian Dolezal (Clara’s Corner Café, Hoisington, KS.)

Encouraging Rural Customers to Shop Healthy

“What Works and Doesn’t Work with In-Store Nutrition Education: Results from a National AFRI Grant Project ” – Sandy Procter, Erin Tynon (K-State Research and Extension)
“Nutrition Education and Outreach in Minnesota: Successes and Challenges Experienced during AFRI Grant Project” – Karen Lanthier (University of Minnesota Extension)
“Mind the Gap: Communities Grow Sustainable Food Access” – Kara Lubischer, Sara Feagans (University of Missouri Extension)

Increasing Healthy Food Options for Rural and Diverse Populations

“Maine Healthy General Stores (Healthy Small Stores in Rural Communies)” – Daniel Wallace (Coastal Enterprises Inc.), Sandie Dubay (Healthy Acadia), The Food Trust
“Increasing Food Options for a Diversifying Population: When Tortilla Chips are Not Enough” – Jon Wolseth, Lisa Bates (Iowa State University Extension and Outreach)

Strengthening Access to Healthy Foods

“Examining the Impact of Food Deserts and Food Imbalance in Rural America” – Mari Gallagher (Mari Gallagher Research & Consulting Group)
“Can Walking and Biking Help Sustain Rural Grocery Stores?” – Marisa Jones (Safe Routes to School)
“A Case Study of Strategies to Increase Grocery Sales” – Dr. Hikaru Peterson (University of Minnesota)

Rural Grocery Best Practices

“Creating Community Networks” – Clint and Jenny Osner; Nancy Koester (Hired Man’s Grocery and Grill, Inc.; Conway Springs, KS.)
“Open for Business: Serving the Community” – Pam Budenbender (Onaga Country Market; Onaga, KS.)
“Facing the Giants: Small Town Grocery Store” – Doug Thompson (Chapman Food Mart; Chapman, KS.)

Food Distribution: Challenges and Solutions

“$9,000 a Week: Innovative Solutions to Turning a Barrier into a Profit Center” – Nick Graham (Rural Grocery Store Owner)
“A National Scan of Healthy Food Distribution to Small Stores: Findings and Recommendations” – Karen Shore (The Food Trust)
“The Sunflower Foundation Distribution Hackathon” – Elizabeth Burger (Sunflower Foundation)
“Prefeasibility to Determine Efficiencies in Distributing Goods to Rural Grocery Stores” – Lori Capouch (North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives)

Policies to Strengthen Healthy Food Access

“Legal and Policy Issues Impacting Rural Grocery Stores” – Natasha Frost, Julie Ralston Aoki (Public Health Law Center)
“Sales Tax on Food: How Local and State Policies have a Big Impact on Rural Grocery Stores” – Ashley Jones-Wisner (KC Healthy Kids)
“Improving Food Access in Rural Communities: What’s the Role of Policy” – Phebe Gibson (Oakland, CA.)

Mapping Food Access

“The Health of Healthy Food Access” – Pat Rissler (Sociology Graduate Student)

Increasing Healthy Food Access in Your Community

“Feeding Kansas: Civic Agriculture for Civic Health” – Natalie Fullerton (Kansas Rural Center)
“Double Up on Produce: New Ways SNAP can Strengthen Rural Groceries” – Noah Fulmer (Fair Food Network)
“Food Policy Councils” – Eileen Horn (Douglas County, KS)