2018 Rural Grocery Summit

June 25-26, 2018, Manhattan, KS

Agenda

2018 Rural Grocery Summit Sessions

Keynotes:

• Trends and Disruptions in the Supermarket Industry, Chris Jones, Vice President for Government Relations, National Grocers Association
• "The Wright Way" Jimmy Wright, President of Wright's Markets, Inc.
• Tumbleweed Tales: Lessons Learned from Rural Entrepreneurs, Ron Wilson, Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development
• Moving Rural Grocery Operations and Healthy Food Access Forward, David Procter, Director, Center for Engagement and Community Development, Kansas State University

Grocery Operations: Cooperatives as a Model of Grocery Ownership

• “Cooperatives: The Business Model that Built Rural America and the Role They Play Today,” Jason McKenney (North Dakota Farmers Union)
• “Cooperative Ownership as a Succession Strategy for Independent Grocers,” Stuart Reid (Food Co-op Initiative)

Healthy Food Access: Best Practices and Resources for Individuals and Organizations Working with Rural Groceries

• “Best Practices in Providing Technical Assistance to Rural Grocery Stores,” Karen Shore (The Food Trust)
• “Offering Technical Assistance through the Kansas Healthy Food Initiative,” Tina Khan (Center for Engagement and Community Development)
• “Key Needs of Rural Grocery Owners and How Technical Assistance Can Best Help,” Debbie Bearden (Allen County Farm Bureau)
• “Addressing Business Needs of Rural Grocers through NetWork Kansas,” Imagene Harris (NetWork Kansas)

Technical Resources for Identifying and Accessing Healthy Food

• “The Seasonal and Simple App, Technical Resources for Assessing Healthy Food,” David Lott, Georgia Jones, Cindy Brison (Nebraska Extension), Cindy DeBlauw (University of Missouri-Columbia)
• “Searching for Markets: The Geography of Supermarket Access in the United States,” Michael Norton (The Reinvestment Fund)

Healthy Food Access

• “Thinking Outside the (Big) Box…Making Every Inch Count in Your Smaller Store,” (Sunflower Foundation)

Healthy Food Access: Strategies to Increase Healthy Food Sales

• “Creatively Branding Fruits and Vegetables to Encourage Healthy Eating,” Virginia Barnes (Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas)
• “Building Store Patronage by Strengthening Community Relationships,” Kolia Souza and Rial Carver (Center for Engagement and Community Development)

Grocery Operations: Rural Grocery Best Practices

• “The Commercial Kitchen and its Many Uses,” Jeanne Roberts, Jonathan Elliott, Silvia Olvera (Plains Community Foundation)
• “Hometown Grocery Store: An Experiment in Rural Economics,” Carly Whorton, Chad Bontrager (Cecil K’s Hometown Market)
• “Creating Income and Value Using Local Products,” Don Sorby (Maple Grove, MN)
• “Best Practices,” Nick Graham (Iowa)

Grocery Operations: Responding to the Food Distribution Challenge

• “What’s Distribution Got To Do With It?,” Elizabeth Burger (Sunflower Foundation)
• “Farm to Rural Grocery to Wholesale: Backhauling through Existing Infrastructure to Create Local Food Access,” Ren Olive, Les Olson, Kathy Draeger, Duke Harrison (University of Minnesota Extension)

Grocery Operations: Models of Ownership

• “The Honor Capital and Save-A-Lot Partnership,” Donna Leuchten Nuccio (The Reinvestment Fund), Marcus Scarborough (Honor Capital LLC) Tom Altadonna (Save-A-Lot)
• “Mobile Grocery Stores for Rural Communities,” Becky Reid, Kerri Falletti, Kelly Hull, Deb Firebaugh (Cowley First-Cowley County Economic Development)

Healthy Food Access: Restoring Grocery Access: The Vinton, Ohio Story

• Caroline Harries (The Food Trust)
• Terri Fetherolf, Director of Development, Vinton County, (Healthy Food for Ohio)
• Valerie Helby, The Finance Fund, (Healthy Food for Ohio)

Grocery Operations: Continuity Planning for Succession or Disruption

• “How to Keep Your Business Open After a Disruption or Disaster,” Michael Aumack (Small Business Administration), Brian Dennis (Kansas Small Business Development Center)
• “Building or Expanding with SBA Funding,” Wayne Bell (US Small Business Administration)

Healthy Food Access: Stifling Efforts to Build Local Food Systems: How Preemption Can Impact Your Community’s Access to Healthy Food

• Mary Marrow (Public Health Law Center)
• Missty Lechner (American Heart Association)
• Natasha Frost (Public Health Law Center)
• Ashley Jones-Wisner (KC Healthy Kids)

Grocery Operations: Grocery Ownership Models that Meet Community Needs and Opportunities

• “Re-Establishing Food Retail in St. John, KS,” Carolyn Dunn, Jordan White, Pat White (St. John)
• “Retail Food Access in Rural Kansas: Two Models for Two Small Towns,” Ben Alexander, David Toland, Debbie Bearden, Tom Williams (Thrive Allen County)

Funding: Funding Opportunities for Rural Grocery Operations and Healthy Food Access

• “Finding and Funding Energy Efficiencies in Rural Grocery Stores,” David Carter (Kansas State University)
• “Grants through ‘Pathways to a Healthy Kansas Communities Program’ for Access to Healthy Foods,” Virginia Barnes (Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas)
• “Funding for Energy Updates, Changes in Ownership, Equipment Updates,” David Kramer (USDA Rural Development)
• “Financing through the Kansas Healthy Food Initiative,” Imagene Harris (NetWork Kansas)

Strengthening Nutrition across the Food System

• “Pilot Data From the Nebraska Double Up Food Bucks Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Incentive-based Program,” Morgan Hartline (University of Nebraksa-Lincoln)
• “Impact of Point of Sales Nutritional Labels on Food Purchase: Evidence from the Rural Midwest,” Harshada Karnik (University of Minnesota)
• “Feed People, Not Landfills,” Barb Goode (Kansas State University)

Grocery Operations: Dealing with Dollar General

• Jenny Osner (Hired Man’s Grocery and Grill, Inc.)
• Dale Franz (Dale’s Supermarket)
• Doug Thompson (Chapman’s Food Mart)
• Poster Session
• Brian DeSmet, Fair Food Network
  Double Up Food Bucks Grocery Program – 4 Keys to Successful Implementation
• Isabelle Busenitz, MS, Kansas Healthy Food Initiative Project Associate
  Determination of Low Resource Areas
• Pat Rissler
  Mapping of Grocery Stores in Kansas and the Creation of a Network of Rural Grocery Stores for the State
• Sarah Reinhardt, MPH, RD, The Union of Concerned Scientists
  Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Use in Rural Communities
• Morgan Hartline and Vanessa Wielenga, Nebraska Extension
  Increasing Access to Fresh Fruits and Vegetables from SNAP Recipients through Nebraska Double Up Food Bucks Program
• Jessie Carr and Amber Berg, K-State’s Rural Grocery Initiative
  Social Media as a Business Strategy: Rural Grocery Stores as a Case Study
• Leah Chapman, MPH, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  Integrating Concepts from Behavioral Economics into Low-Cost Healthy Retail Interventions: Methods and Results from Rural North Carolina