Jean Conklin, Senior Loan Officer and Clara Hall, Credit Analyst, attended the VT Vegetable and Berry Growers Association Annual Meeting on January 30th. A crowd of over 100 attendees were welcomed with an upbeat report from their president, Andy Jones of Intervale Community Farm in Burlington. Despite a lousy weather year in 2011 it was a great time to be a Vermont produce grower. He highlighted the outpouring of community support throughout the year after each of its challenges and the way growers helped each other. There were also presentations by growers, suppliers, UVM Extension and VT Secretary of Agriculture Chuck Ross as well as an industry trade show.
