Source: NC AGRIBUSINESS COUNCIL

RSVP TODAY at rsvp@ncagribusiness.com
SPONSORSHIPS & TICKETS AVAILABLE - SPACE LIMITED 

NC Agribusiness Council
49th Annual AgLeaders & Cultiv8 Conference
at The North Carolina Research Campus
Kannapolis, NC

11:30am - Registration Opens - Laureate Center, Kannapolis City Hall

12:00 Noon - Luncheon Begins (catered by Forty Six) at Laureate Center 

12:30pm - Kevin Mulligan, President of NC Agribusiness Council (Welcome)

12:35pm - Mark Spitzer  - Vice President of NC Operations, Castle & Cooke NC, LLC
Castle & Cooke North Carolina (CCNC) is the developer of the North Carolina Research Campus and, more importantly, provides collaborative leadership and mission support to the campus. CCNC leadership works closely with campus scientists and partners as well as a campus development team and local and state leaders to promote sponsored research and residency of laboratory and office space.

12:45pm - Leonard Williams, Ph.D, MBA - NC A&T Center for Excellence in Post-Harvest Technology
Dr. Williams is Professor and lead scientist for food safety at the Center for Excellence in Post-Harvest Technologies, specializing in microbiology. His research examines the incidence of foodborne pathogens in fruits and vegetables, including salad crops, using molecular, immunological and epidemiological approaches, with the goal of identifying new strains and their ability to develop resistance to both natural and synthetically derived agents.

12:55pm - Mary Ann Lila, Ph.D. - NCSU Plants for Human Health Institute
Dr. Lila is the Director, NCSU Plants for Human Health Institute.  Her research focuses on the bioactive compounds found in some foods, particularly fruits and vegetables, that confer human health benefits when the food is eaten. The benefits of eating foods and beverages rich in these compounds are well-established, according to Dr. Lila, but the identity and protective mechanisms of the compounds have not been defined in all cases. Dr. Lila's research is aimed at identifying bioactive compounds and understanding how they work. She is particularly interested in compounds that appear to help counteract chronic disease and promote endurance.

1:05pm - Bill Aimutis, Ph.D. - NC Food Innovation Lab
Bill Aimutis is an R&D expert with more than 30 years of experience in corporate and academic settings.  He's the Director of the NC Food Innovation Lab, a partnership between the NC Department of Agriculture, NC State University and the NC Research Campus. The center is designed to drive innovation that benefits consumers, farmers, large food processors and manufacturers as well as food entrepreneurs and small businesses.

1:15pm - John Troupe  - Standard Process
The Nutrition Innovation Center is located at the prestigious North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis, North Carolina, and is led by John Troup, Ph.D., Standard Process Vice President of Clinical Science, Education, & Innovation. The Standard Process facility is the only innovation and clinical research center of its kind in the nutrition industry, being fully dedicated to supporting the needs of natural health care professionals by focusing on clinical outcomes in therapeutic care as well as specific benefits and outcomes of whole food clinical nutrition. The center serves as an active site that advances wholistic, integrative, and functional medicine for all practitioners.

1:25pm - Round Robin Q&A  with 5 speakers

3:00pm - 3 Guided Tours at NC Research Campus:
  * NC A&T Center for Excellence in Post-Harvest Technology (Leonard Williams)
  * NC Food Innovation Lab (Bill Aimutis)
  * Standard Process (John Troupe)

5:00pm - Reception "A Taste of Cabarrus and Rowan Counties" in Core Lab Atrium
   * Kannapolis Mayor Darrell Hinnant (Welcome)

6:30pm - Adjourn