by Vicki Reich Conference planning is in full swing. I know it seems like we just said goodbye at the last conference and October seems like a lifetime from now, but there are good things starting to coalesce for 2018. The board came up with a great theme for this year’s conference: Minding Our Mission, Finding Our Future. I’m currently in negotiations with two inspiring Keynote Speakers and a really exciting Intensive lineup. Hopefully I’ll be able to tell you [Read More]
by Vicki Reich One year ago yesterday, I received a fateful text from one of our board member. I was on my way home from an annual weekend retreat with some of my best friends and had stopped for gas in a very small town in North Idaho that miraculously had cell phone service. This board member and I had served on the Board for many years and she thought I would like to know that Susan (our long serving, [Read More]
by Rachel Mitrani Hello to our Provender Community! I would like to first send wishes for a happy and healthy new year! As we enter 2018, it is a great time to set positive intentions for both personal and professional goals. Your Provender Board of Directors would like to extend an invitation to let us know what we can do to support your organizations in this new year. We are currently working on a strategic plan to make sure we [Read More]
by Vicki Reich I’m sure the busy season has started in ernest for many of you. As a former natural foods retail, I remember the stress of trying to make sure my customers could find just what they were looking for when they came to my store. I’m guessing being a manufacture at this time of year has its own special stresses. Even if your customers are too busy dealing with making the holidays perfect for their customers to be [Read More]
by Shawn Seebach, Board Secretary Another Provender conference has come and gone and I have to say, what an amazing conference it was! I am still feeling so energized by our amazing members and what you all bring to this community! It was great to see some familiar faces and also all the new ones. Thank you to all who came and made it the best conference yet! As we mentioned at our General Membership Meeting, the Board elections [Read More]
from the desk of Vicki Reich, Executive Director. The 41st Annual Provender Educational Conference was a great success! If you attended, I hope you agree. A quick perusal of the giant stack of workshop evaluations on my desk seem to indicate that attendees really enjoyed the workshops. The food was stellar as always (the only complaint I heard was it was so good that people ate too much). We had two truly inspiring keynote presenters. The snack room was above [Read More]
According to the countdown clock on the website there are 48 days, 18 hours and 20 minutes remaining until the start of the conference. That is pretty darn exciting (and a wee bit scary on my end)! I am so looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting all the wonderful people I’ve been emailing for the past five months. Things are really coming together. I hope you have all had the opportunity to check out the Conference Announcement. We [Read More]
Your Provender board is excited to announce the official hiring of Vicki Reich as our new Executive Director! After several months of job posting, screening and interviewing, the board narrowed the candidate field to 3 qualified and talented individuals. There were over 20 applicants for the position! Vicki has spent many years as a Provender board member and most recently as the Interim ED. Vicki’s skill set is broad and diverse. She has a great history and perspective with the [Read More]
We all, as a people, have been affected by the recent, tragic, disturbing events in Charlottesville, leaving us reflecting on what this all means and how this fits into our ideas of who we are and who we mean to be. During these last few days I have been inspired by the chorus of voices singing in solidarity against hate, fascism, white supremacy, and the unacceptable equivocation of the President. Now that the worst among us seems to be rising [Read More]
-from the desk of Vicki Reich, Interim Executive Director What’s Happening? The Conference is happening! On-line registration (yes, on-line registration!) opens this Wednesday July 19th. It’s a pretty exciting moment in my world and I hope it is in yours. The conference packet will be available in PDF format on the same day (I’d publish it today but I’m still waiting on a couple of last minute descriptions and it looks kind of messy right now). If you are as [Read More]
Article originally published in the GreenMoney eJournal (June 2017). More on GreenMoney at- www.GreenMoney.com A Guide to Sustainable Farmland Investing – Healing People and the Planet by David Miller, Co-founder and CEO, Iroquois Valley Farms We at Iroquois Valley Farms are pleased to announce a new corporate entity as we begin our 11th season of operations. In 2007 when we started the company, our idea was simple – growing healthy foods on organic soils would be good business. We are [Read More]
-from the desk of Vicki Reich, Interim Executive Director You hold in your virtual hands the first issue of the Provender e-Newsletter sent from our new membership software, Wild Apricot. It might not seem that exciting but it’s a big step forward for us. Getting things in place to launch the new software has been a bit of work. It’s not done yet but if I waited for it to be perfect (which is my natural inclination), you might never [Read More]
What’s Happening -from the desk of Vicki Reich, Interim Executive Director It’s amazing how fast a month can go by when you are deeply immersed in projects. So much has happened since the last issue of the Provender e-news. Let me catch you up. The 41st Annual Educational Conference is taking shape. We have both Thursday and Friday Keynote Speakers confirmed. Our Thursday morning keynote is Valerie Segrist who teaches classes on traditional food and medicine for the Northwest Indian [Read More]
Hello Provendarians! Spring is in full bloom and with that welcome seasonal change, we also are embracing our organizational changes. It was once said that “The only constant is change.” as I contemplate this writing, your Provender Board Of Directors will soon be on our way to our spring in person planning retreat on the Oregon coast. I think that I can say that we are all very excited about the opportunities we have ahead, while the path my not [Read More]
What’s Happening -from the desk of the Interim Executive Director This e-newsletter is going to be a bit different from past issues. With the change in the Executive Director position, I felt it was more important to let members know what was going on with their organization rather than what was going on in the Natural Products Industry as a whole. The regular format will return next month. So what is happening with Provender? Most importantly, the Conference is in [Read More]