On Tuesday, March 17, 2015, Minnesota State University Mankato hosted the Richard R. and Mary L. Schmitz Executive Lecture. The Richard and Mary Schmitz Executive Endowment for Opportunities in Food Entrepreneurship was founded in 1999. The fund creates scholarships and supports the annual lecture by industry experts in the category of food entrepreneurship. This includes executives within a broad range of food processing, retailing and wholesaling industries. This lecture also provides Minnesota State University Mankato’s College of Business to engage the growing sector of Agri-business with their students, alumni and friends in a format that educates the community about growing needs in the agricultural world.
Christensen Farms Chief Executive Officer, Glenn Stolt was invited to be this year’s keynote speaker for the Executive Lecture where he presented “A Legacy of Entrepreneurialism – Providing Food to a Growing World”. Stolt’s presentation focused on the following topics:
- The entrepreneurial journey of Christensen Farms and its current role in providing food to a growing world;
- The challenges food companies across the globe have in the task of feeding the growing population;
- Agricultures impact and contribution to the U.S. and Minnesota’s economy and employment sector;
- The role and responsibility companies like Christensen Farms have in sustainable agriculture; and
- Christensen Farms most valuable asset, its people along with the many career opportunities agri-business has to offer.
In addition to the afternoon lecture, Stolt and other Christensen Farms Team Members participated in a classroom visit providing seniors of the College of Business an outlook on the diverse opportunities in Agri-business and an Ag Forum which provided a setting for key agriculture leaders, as well as higher education faculty and administration, to discuss how the workforce needs of the industry align with the career aspirations and professional preparation for students.