Growth potential forecast at Skagit Ag Summit

Farmers and agriculture industry allies heard from Skagit County economic development leaders on the afternoon of the fourth annual Ag Summit Feb. 8, sponsored by WSU Extension at their Mount Vernon offices.

Port of Skagit Executive Director Patsy Martin had the day’s big announcement, which she and the Innovation Partnership Zone, partners the Port is working with, shared with the group at the session on “Innovation.”

Martin unveiled “Genuine Skagit Valley,” a certification program years in development that will “get more jobs and economic activity in the Valley,” she said. She told the group “this is for the Valley itself. It is focused on each and every one of us.”

Presenting alongside City of Mount Vernon Mayor Jill Boudreau and WSU Bread Lab Director Dr. Stephen Jones, Martin introduced “Genuine Skagit Valley” a federal certification mark for Skagit agricultural products.

She showed the “Genuine Skagit Valley” federal cert-ification mark, in both terra cotta and leaf green and black and white, attainable by farmers and businesses applying for it and paying a $250 fee.

Her presentation emphasized the IPZ’s “Value Proposition: encourage innovation to create a ‘terroir’ brand that increases the recognition of and demand for Skagit products worldwide [using] collaboration among partners to enhance a vibrant local agricultural economy that will benefit farms, sellers, consumers, and all local residents.”

In introducing Martin, David Bauermeistet, director of the Northwest Agricultural Business Center, explained that the entirety of Skagit County has been designated an “innovation zone” by the state’s department of commerce since 2013. The goal: enhance Skagit products worldwide their value added agriculture.

John Sternlicht, director of EDASC, Economic Development Alliance of Skagit County, told the farmers what they knew, “things are going to change.” The future here will not be like the asphalt and pavement of the Kent Valley, he said. That happened there, he said, because no one was paying attention.

The proactive approach of local economic development emphasizes partnerships, value added products and providing a relationship to their food that people want. That is “the way for people to make a living in agriculture,” he said.

The day included sessions on labor, economic viability, innovation, agricultural leadership and infrastructure and remarks by County Commissioners Ron Wesen and Ken Dahlstedt. Each was asked the same question: Would a ballot measure to create charter government in Skagit County appear in the future.

Wesen, without a crystal ball, responded, “I can’t tell you if it will come forward in the future.” Dahlstedt also did not make a prediction.