How do we Build a Regional Supply Chain that Works for Everyone? | The Ballroom

 

Everyone says they want a stronger regional food system. But what does that actually look like in practice? From farms and food hubs to distributors and last-mile delivery, every part of the supply chain faces different pressures and incentives. Join leaders from across the regional food ecosystem as we explore where the current system succeeds, where it falls short, and what it would take to create a more resilient, equitable, and efficient supply chain for the Pacific Northwest. We’ll discuss bottlenecks, distribution realities, climate resilience, technology, and the often-overlooked challenge of the “last mile.

Join us for this conversation with three people who are helping lead this work across the Pacific Northwest: Franklin Jones of B-Line Urban Delivery, Andrew Yokom of Puget Sound Food Hub Cooperative, and Lucas Crawford of Organically Grown Company. Together, they bring perspectives from last-mile delivery, regional food hubs, and large-scale natural food distribution, and a firsthand view of what it takes to move food through our region.

 

Moderated by Matt Landi | VP of Industry Relations | Organic Trade Association (OTA)

Matt has worked for over two decades in service of the organic food and agricultural trade from a number of different multifunction leadership roles in California, the Pacific Northwest and New England. His career has included stints in retail, wholesale distribution, international trade and more recently as part of a regional start up effort in Vermont. Matt also previously served as board chair for OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute), board president for the SFTA (Sustainable Food Trade Association) and as a board member for the Homeless Garden Project. He also wrote a food and agriculture column in the Santa Cruz Sentinel titled “County Bounty”, and currently serves as VP of Industry Relations at the OTA (Organic Trade Association).

Andrew Yokom | Executive Director | Puget Sound Food Hub Cooperative

“Connecting the farms that steward our land to the families who depend on it.”

Andrew Yokom has spent the last seven years building one of the Pacific Northwest’s most consequential local food enterprises.

As Executive Director of the Puget Sound Food Hub Cooperative, Andrew leads a farmer-owned organization working directly with over 120 local producers to move fresh, regionally grown food into the hands of buyers across Western Washington. Under his leadership, PSFH has grown to over $12 million in annual revenue, delivering real economic returns to the farmer owners.

Andrew believes a thriving local food economy is one of the most powerful levers we have — for environmental stewardship, community health, individual vitality, and fair livelihoods for the people growing our food. It’s not one issue. It’s the connective tissue between all the things we want our communities to be.

PSFH is a founding member of the Northwest Food Hub Network, collectively providing market access for more than 200 farms across the region.

Lucas Crawford | Senior Account Representative | Organically Grown Company

Raised with an appreciation for growing and preserving food in Vermont led me to farm work in my early years where i first learned about organic agriculture. Moving to Portland, OR in 1996, I discovered Organically Grown Company and started as a Driver and Warehouser eventually working my way in to Sales. I have spent the past 26 years developing relationships and supporting Co-ops and Independent Natural Food stores across the Pacific NW as well as Alaska, Idaho, Montana and Northern California.

Franklin Jones | Founder & CEO | B-Line Urban Delivery

Franklin Jones is the CEO and Founder of B-Line Urban Delivery. As the anchor tenant for the REDD on Salmon Street in Portland, Oregon, B-Line offers flexible warehousing and last mile logistics that streamline how local food producers get their products into the urban market.

Utilizing electric-assist freight tricycles, B-Line provides unique delivery services that reduce congestion and pollution while creating better access to the market for a wide range of customers.

B-Line’s business model draws from Franklin’s combined interests in cycling, community, and sustainability. He earned a degree in history and environmental studies from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, worked in bicycle and transportation planning in Central Oregon, learning first hand how goods are delivered in communities all over the globe via a 13,000 mile bicycle trip around the world.

Franklin enjoyed a career as a sixth grade teacher for over ten years. He then founded B-Line Urban Delivery in 2009 and was recognized as a Champion of the B-Corp movement in 2012 for his work building the B Corp community in Portland, Oregon.

Franklin’s vision is to utilize the power of business to help communities become more livable and sustainable for all.