New AgriNovus Indiana study identifies tech, business models as key areas of innovation to improve federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
INDIANAPOLIS (July 14, 2022) — AgriNovus Indiana, a non-profit focused on growing Indiana’s agbioscience economy, released a study today identifying the need for technology and new business models to improve the $100+ billion annual federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Authored by national food policy expert and Snee Family Endowed Chair at Baylor University, Dr. Craig Gundersen, the study, Leveraging Technology to Improve Food Insecurity, identifies challenges hindering SNAP recipients and recommends adoption of technologies and process improvements to help food-insecure Americans. “SNAP is a critical safety net for millions of Americans,” said Mitch Frazier, president and CEO of AgriNovus Indiana. “This new research provides data and key recommendations to inspire innovators to bring new approaches to better connect food supply to those who are food insecure.” Key recommendations identified in the study include: Identifying ways to eliminate delivery costs [...]
AgriNovus Indiana launches HungerTech Innovation Challenge to improve food access
INDIANAPOLIS (May 17, 2022) — AgriNovus Indiana, a non-profit focused on growing Indiana’s agbioscience economy, launched a challenge today to inspire innovation that better serves food insecure people participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), an approximately $100 billion federal program through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). In partnership with Anthem, the HungerTech Innovation Challenge creates an opportunity for companies, entrepreneurs, students and innovators to compete for a $25,000 grand prize by developing new technologies and models to enable SNAP recipients to purchase groceries online and receive the products regardless of location. “Food deserts have long been defined by proximity to a retail grocer; our ambition with the HungerTech Innovation Challenge is to inspire the creation of new technologies and systems that make physical location no longer a barrier,” said Mitch Frazier, president and CEO of AgriNovus. [...]
Celebrating National Agriculture Month – Indiana Has Its Ducks in a Row
March is National Agriculture Month and Indiana ranks 10th nationally for total ag production with more than 55,000 farmers operating 14.8 million acres of land in Indiana, according to a study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. An article by the Purdue Research Foundation shows Indiana’s impact on ag innovation and how AgriNovus Indiana is leading the way in growing the state’s agbiosciences. [READ MORE]
AgriNovus Indiana’s career exploration platform, Field Atlas, announces spring class of student ambassadors
INDIANAPOLIS (Jan. 25, 2022) – AgriNovus Indiana, a non-profit initiative focused on growing Indiana’s agbioscience economy, announced today its spring 2022 class of Field Atlas ambassadors to spark conversation about the agbiosciences on college and university campuses across the state. Field Atlas ambassadors are college students selected to serve as the on-campus connection between students, professionals and academic advisors and the Field Atlas career exploration platform (MyFieldAtlas.com). The ambassadors will provide information about fields of study, traditional and allied career paths in the agbioscience industry and companies offering those opportunities across the state. Additionally, ambassadors connect peers to real-time internship, entry-level and early career opportunities via the Job Board (Jobs.AgriNovusIndiana.com). For the 2022 spring semester, Field Atlas has selected these students to represent the program: Baylee Dwenger – Senior, Hanover College Baylee Fidler – Freshman, Vincennes University Julia Hamblen – [...]
AgriNovus Indiana announces additions to its Board of Directors
INDIANAPOLIS (Nov. 30, 2021) — AgriNovus Indiana, an initiative to fuel growth in Indiana’s agbioscience economy, announced today several additions to its board of directors. The board unanimously approved new seats for the following: Brian Anderson, director of economic development, Wabash Valley Power Alliance Anna Haldewang, founder and CEO, InsightTRAC Ambassador Kip Tom, formerly of the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture (Rome, Italy) Former AgriNovus board chair, Aaron Schacht, was also approved for an at-large seat representing Elanco’s recent carve-out focused on a microbiome research and development platform. A name for this independent biopharmaceutical company has not yet been released. "AgriNovus has a bold ambition to fuel growth across Indiana's agbioscience economy - from agtech and animal health to plant science and value-added food," said Mitch Frazier, president and CEO of AgriNovus Indiana. "The leaders joining our board add [...]
Governor Holcomb appoints Mitch Frazier as chair of the Indiana State Fair Commission
Mitch Frazier, president and CEO, AgriNovus Indiana Press release provided by the Indiana State Fair. September 23, 2021, Indianapolis, IN – Governor Eric Holcomb has appointed Mitch Frazier as chair of the Indiana State Fair Commission. He succeeds Brad Chambers who served as the Commission’s chair until recently taking on the role of Secretary of Commerce for the state of Indiana and CEO of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC). The Indiana State Fair Commission, which is made up of 13 members, sets governing policy and provides strategic direction for the year-round operation of the 250-acre Indiana State Fairgrounds & Event Center, including the annual Indiana State Fair. “The Indiana State Fairgrounds and Event Center is a special place where traditions are made and memories are created,” said Mitch Frazier, president and CEO of AgriNovus Indiana and chair [...]
AgriNovus Indiana announces winner of 2021 Producer-Led Innovation Challenge
INDIANAPOLIS (Sept. 22, 2021) — AgriNovus Indiana, an initiative focused on growing Indiana’s agbioscience economy, today announced Regrow from Durhman, N.H. as the winning team of its Producer-Led Innovation Challenge, awarding them $25,000 provided by Purdue Foundry as well as professional services from The PLAID Agency and Sikich LLP. The Producer-Led Innovation Challenge, presented by the Indiana Corn Marketing Council and Indiana Soybean Alliance, was designed to inspire innovators to create software that makes it faster for farmers to aggregate complex data sets required to participate in Carbon markets, where companies purchase credits from farming operations that sequester Carbon. From tech startups to student teams, participants worked to create a solution that accomplished the following objectives: Ability to integrate years of multiple data sources from across farm operations to create a market-ready data set with minimal farmer manual data entry, [...]
AgriNovus Indiana announces changes, additions to its Board of Directors
INDIANAPOLIS (Sept. 15, 2021) — AgriNovus Indiana, an initiative to fuel growth in Indiana’s agbioscience economy, announced today several changes and additions to its board of directors. The board unaminously approved the addition of Paul Nselel, CEO of AgReliant Genetics, to the board in addition to the seat change of Kristin Bloink, vice president of Global Product Development at Elanco. Additionally, the organization’s Innovation Council was dissolved and members were integrated to board seats, including: Bryan Brackemyre – vice president of Member Services, Indiana Municipal Power Agency Nichole Like – president and CEO, The Pantheon Rebecca Schroeder – president, Whiteshire Hamroc Josh Trenary – executive director, Indiana Pork “AgriNovus has a bold ambition to fuel growth across Indiana’s agbioscience economy - from agtech and animal health to plant science and value-added food,” said Mitch Frazier, president and CEO of AgriNovus Indiana. [...]
AgriNovus Indiana’s career exploration platform, Field Atlas, announces fall class of student ambassadors
INDIANAPOLIS (Sept. 8, 2021) – AgriNovus Indiana, a non-profit initiative focused on growing Indiana’s agbioscience economy, announced today its fall 2021 class of Field Atlas ambassadors to spark conversation about the agbiosciences on college and university campuses across the state. Field Atlas ambassadors are college students selected to serve as on-campus connectors between students, professors and academic advisors and the Field Atlas career exploration platform (MyFieldAtlas.com). The ambassadors will provide information about career paths, companies and fields of study in the agbioscience industry. For the 2021 fall semester, Field Atlas has selected these students to represent the program: Noah Berning – Sophomore, Purdue University Kailyn Cooksey – Sophomore, Indiana State University Maranda Elswick – Junior, Purdue University Sylvia Harris – Senior, Huntington University Carly Morris – Senior, Franklin College Gracie Whitaker – Sophomore, Purdue University – Fort Wayne “The peer [...]
