2009 South Carolina Agribusiness Summit

This is an archived version of the original Palmetto Institute’s 2009 Agribusiness Summit. Most of the original content has been preserved with additional sources added where needed.

The Palmetto Institute’s 2009 Agribusiness Summit brought together South Carolina state leaders who represent the broad interests of agriculture, forestry, food processing, and agritourism in order to formulate an action plan to drive their industry in the expanding global market to $50 billion by the year 2020. It has been noted that the South Carolina’s agribusiness industry has grown over the past three years (2006-2008) to become the state’s number one economic engine.

The Palmetto Institute, an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit research as well as an educational organization was established in February 2002. The central mission and singular goal of the Institute is to create not only a business, community, but also a political and educational climate that would produce dramatic and sustained growth in the creation, distribution and retention of wealth for all South Carolinaresidents and businesses. The Palmetto Institute’s dedication to consistent improvement enables South Carolina’s agribusiness industry to produce on a continuous basis, the a profitable, environmental, economic and sustainable produce and products for all.

Summit participants had the opportunity to explore and identify how to accelerate growth of their industry via in-depth presentations by accredited speakers from across state and country, including a keynote presentation by The Honorable Kathleen Merrigan, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture. As an added feature the summit also included a town hall forum with S.C. gubernatorial candidates for the upcoming 2010 election.

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Friday November 13th 8:30am to 2:00pm
The Francis Marion Hotel
Charleston, South Carolina

Program

8:30 am to 9 am:
Registration and Networking
9 am to 11 am:
Presentations
11 am to 12:15 pm:
Town Hall Forum with Gubernatorial Candidates, moderated by David Winkles, President, South Carolina Farm Bureau
12:15 pm to 12:45 pm:
Lunch Served
12:45 pm to 1:30 pm:
Keynote Address
1:30 pm to 2:00 pm:
Conclusion and Adjournment

 Featured Speakers

Darla Moore, Palmetto Institute Board Chair
The Honorable Hugh Weathers, Commissioner of Agriculture, State of South Carolina
The Honorable Gene Kodama, South Carolina State Forester
Dr. Billy Ray Hall, President, North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center
Keynote: The Honorable Kathleen A. Merrigan, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture

News

Lake City Key's on Income, Education.
Dec 1, 2008

Lake City was home to another famous American, Ronald McNair, a laser physicist who was recruited by NASA to become an astronaut.

State's Future Moore Passion.
Nov 30, 2008

Lake City, Darla Moore's hometown, was once a major hub for tobacco production in the South. City officials are hoping to renovate and convert ...

Improving Agriculture Topic of Summit.
Nov 21, 2008

Agriculture is one of the biggest industries in South Carolina and a meeting being held in Charleston focuses on how to improve it.

Sponsorships

Take advantage of this initial opportunity to boost your company's awareness and name recognition. By sponsoring the Agribusiness Summit, you will reach hundreds of South Carolina's business, agribusiness and community leaders. And you really don't have to be from South Carolina to benefit from a sponsorship. We've had a variety of businesses out of state who have seen the benefits. For instance a Senior Analyst for the Henry A. Wallace Institute for Alternative Agriculture, a Washington, DC-based organization that promotes research and education in sustainable agriculture brought his tech team to the conference - the entire NYC team from TNG/Earthling tagged along. Bob Sakayama even volunteered his search team to optimize the project for Google search. This brought the event to the attention of hundreds of out of state entities that inquired about sponsorships or about attending in person. During the event, this site was number 1 for a number of related keywords and in the top 10 for many. These great search results also made the summit more accessible and improved its stature immensely - in this world, visibility is everything.

The Agribusiness Summit provides an engaging and motivational setting designed to educate our state's current and future leaders about the importance of agriculture to South Carolina's economy.

Your tax-deductible contribution may be made out to the Palmetto Institute, a 501 (c) non-profit entity dedicated to creating a business, community, political and educational climate that will produce dramatic and sustained growth in the creation, distribution and retention of wealth for every person in South Carolina.


Sponsorship Opportunities:

Platinum Level Sponsorship: $10,000

Platinum Level sponsors will receive:

  • Conference registration for 8 attendees
  • Reserved table at conference
  • Verbal recognition at conference
  • Recognition (logo and company name) on all conference literature
  • Recognition (logo and company name) on all conference banners
  • Recognition (logo and company name) on conference invitation
  • Recognition (logo and company name) on screen in conference room
  • Private reception with conference speakers, key business and community leaders and Palmetto Institute representatives on the evening before the conference

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Gold Level Sponsorship: $5,000

Gold Level sponsors will receive:

  • Conference registration for 4 attendees
  • Recognition (logo and company name) on all conference banners
  • Recognition (logo and company name) on conference invitation
  • Recognition (logo and company name) on screen in conference room
  • Private reception with conference speakers, key business and community leaders and Palmetto Institute representatives on the evening before the conference

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Silver Level Sponsorship: $2,500

Silver Level sponsors will receive:

  • Conference registration for 2 attendees
  • Recognition (logo and company name) on all signage at Summit

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Contact

Media

Emily Brady
emily.brady(at)cnsg.com
803-233-2452

Kim Jamieson
kim.jamieson(at)cnsg.com
803-233-2466

Sponsorships

David Anderson
david.anderson(at)cnsg.com
803-233-2443

RSVP

Willi McNamara
wmcnamara(at)palmettoinstitute.org
803-806-8106

SCagSummit.com