Author Archives: President

ACS Raleigh — Day One

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Raleigh City Center Wednesday Farmers Market

On Wednesday we were greeted by a City Center Farmers Market at the base of the convention hotels this morning. It happens downtown every Wednesday from 10am to 2pm, but today it’s been enhanced with five local cheese makers (normally there are only two cheese makers) joining the other vendors, an ACS tasting tent offering local cheese and local beer pairings, a grilled cheese competition between local chefs, and a live band.

Cheesemakers at the market:

Chapel Hill Creamery
Hillsborough Cheese Co.
Goat Lady Dairy
Calico Farmstead
Holly Grove Farms

Others are off on tours of local cheese makers, farms, and food markets around The Triangle; or taking one of the “Deep Dive” workshops, such as “Food Safety and Artisan Cheesemaking”

Blunt Talk on Jobs

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I was invited to Governor LePage’s “Workshop on Job Creation” on July 10th in Springvale where he asked members of the Maine business community for “blunt and honest” suggestions on how to improve the relationship between the public and private sector to foster job growth. I took him up on his request and as the Biddeford Journal Tribute accurately reported the next day:

Without a boost in the number of dairy inspectors – there’s just one for the whole state at present, Rector said – new cheesemakers can’t get into the industry and existing manufacturers can’t expand their operations.

Guild Input Into New Agriculture Conservation and Forestry Dept.

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Broadly speaking the legislature has decided to merge the Maine Department of Agriculture with the Maine Department of Conservation. They have also transferred several functions from the State Planning Office to this new “super” department among other smaller moves across state governement.

As these government entities contemplate how to re-organize under this single new entity they are holding public meetings across the state to hear from organizations and individuals who have an interest in this new department, and who want to have input on how it is finally pieced together.

I attended a meeting held on June 26th in Augusta, and following are the recommendation I made on behalf of the Maine Cheese Guild to Commissioners Whitcomb (Ag) and Beardsley (Conservation).

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