Ohio MarketMaker Team Receives Farm Credit Services National Innovation Award for Helping food businesses “get connected” with Ohio Marketmaker
Ohio MarketMaker was honored by Farm Credit with the 2011 National Food MarketMaker Innovation Award. Their program, “Get Connected with Ohio MarketMaker,” was presented with the award at the National Value Added Agriculture Conference in Pittsburgh, PA on June 27, 2011.
The Ohio MarketMaker program is coordinated by Julie Fox, Direct Marketing Specialist at OSU South Centers, and the Ohio Direct Marketing Team. State partners include the Ohio Department of Agriculture/Ohio Proud, Ohio Farm Bureau/Our Ohio, Ohio Grape Industries Committee, the Center for Innovative Food Technology, Ohio Farmers Markets, and the OSU Center for Farmland Policy Innovation. This collaboration, along with marketing, outreach, and education yielded increased awareness, trial, and adoption of the MarketMaker program in Ohio. It also doubled the number of registered MarketMaker business profiles in Ohio.
“We are committed to growing MarketMaker in Ohio AND growing the national network,” says Julie Fox, Direct Marketing Specialist at OSU South Centers. “Farms and other food businesses operating in Ohio benefit from the strength of the partners within Ohio, as well as from the multi-state national efforts.”
Gary Matteson, Farm Credit Vice President of Young, Beginning, Small Farmer Programs and Outreach, says, “Farm Credit is proud to recognize the creativity and effectiveness of all entries to the 2011 National Food MarketMaker Innovation Award. It’s impressive to see how resourceful each MarketMaker program is, and understand the potential for these great ideas to be put to good use in other states. Special congratulations to the Ohio MarketMaker Team, who demonstrates that MarketMaker success is about building partnerships to benefit farm and fishery producers.”
Ohio MarketMaker and the National Food MarketMaker is a free online marketing resource for all businesses in the food system. The program connects producers with food processors, retailers, consumers, and other food supply chain participants. It boasts one of the most extensive collections of food industry related data in the country. Food producers and food buyers can register their business by going to http://www.ohiomarketmaker.com.
