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College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences

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Workshop About the Business of Hydroponics

March 29, 2005

WALDO, Ohio — Creating and maintaining a hydroponic greenhouse business requires management savvy, a productive labor force and the assurance that consumers receive a safe product.

Ohio State University Extension Agricultural Business Enhancement Center (ABE) will hold a short course and workshop April 20-22 in Waldo, Ohio, to show interested parties how to be profitable in the hydroponic greenhouse business. The event is also sponsored by the Great Lakes Hydroponic Association.

Program topics will include how to implement food safety protocols, hiring and retaining a good labor force and learning what it takes to be a successful hydroponic grower and business manager.

Shari Plimpton, program manager-industry outread for the Center for Innovative Food Technology/EISC, Inc., will lead the discussion on food safety. Bernie Erven of Erven HR Services LLC will conduct the session on increasing the retention rates and productivity of a greenhouse workforce. Both sessions will be held on April 20.

From April 21-22, focus will center on marketing, greenhouse financing, production techniques, greenhouse design and organic vegetable production.

A tour of the VanScoy Farms LLC, a new one-acre hydroponic tomato greenhouse, will also be part of the short course and workshop. The tour will take place the afternoon of April 22.

Registration for the event is $150 for Great Lakes Hydroponic Association members, $200 for non-members, and $75 for students.

For more information or to register, contact Carol Packer or Mary Donnell at the ABE Center at (419) 354-6916 or e-mail packer.19@osu.edu, or donnell.8@osu.edu. Additional information can be found by logging on to http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/hydroponics.

Author(s): 
Candace Pollock
Source(s): 
Mary Donnell