Brooke Beam, PhD
Ohio State University Extension, Highland County
Agriculture and Natural Resources/Community Development Extension Educator
From left to right: Rob Holt, Mat Greene, Diana Grooms, Liz Brennfelck, Mike Hart, Melissa Elmore, Michelle Unsworth, Destiny Bryson, and Doug Ernst during the tour of Weastec, Inc.
On March 6, 2019, the participants of Leadership Highland toured several Highland County businesses. The programming for the Leadership Highland Business and Industry Day included a variety of small and large business operations.
Leadership Highland participants started their day at Batter Up Bakery in Leesburg, Ohio. Casey McIntosh, co-owner of Batter Up Bakery, described the process of creating their baked goods, partnering with local businesses to source ingredients, and the upcoming line-up of baking classes offered at the bakery.
The second stop of the day was to Higgins Steel Roofing in Hillsboro, Ohio. Tim Walker provided a walking tour of the facilities and demonstrated the process used to create a wide variety of metal products manufactured on-site to fit the customer’s needs. Higgins Steel Roofing uses rollforming technology to create a series of metal building materials, standing seam roofs, and building accessories.
In the afternoon, Doug Ernst lead the participants of Leadership Highland on a tour of Weastec, Inc., a subsidiary of the Toyodenso Co. Ltd. Weastec, Inc. tests electrical switches for automotive companies. Products that have been tested will be shipped to companies like Honda, Toyota, and Volkswagen. Weastec, Inc. was founded in 1988 and has grown to include the Weastec Technical Center in Dublin, Ohio, where engineers are able to design, develop, and test new electrical automotive products.
The final stop of the day was a tour of the Highland County Extension Office, where participants learned about the different educational opportunities offered to the public. Programs discussed included 4-H Youth Development, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Master Gardener Volunteers, Community Development, and SNAP education.
The next meeting of Leadership Highland will be held in late March for Education Day. For more information about Leadership Highland, contact the Highland County Extension Office at 937-393-1918.
Upcoming Programs:
The Highland County Extension Office will be hosting a tour of the OSU Meat Lab in Columbus, Ohio, for those who are interested in beef and meat production on March 19, 2019. The tour will coincide with the meat class on campus, so attendees will be able to see the lab on a harvesting day. The tour will be held in the morning and space is limited. Please call the Highland County Extension Office at 937-393-1918 for additional information and to reserve your place for the tour.
Join us for a Commodity Update with Ben Brown, the program manager for the Farm Management Program. The program will be held on March 20, 2019, at 7 PM in the Large Meeting Room in the basement of 119 Governor Foraker Place, Hillsboro, Ohio. The program is free to attend, but RSVP is encouraged to reserve your seat. The Farm Management Program strives to address critical farm management issues affecting Ohio agriculture, including marketing and price analysis, farm financial management, risk evaluation, agricultural processing, environmental objectives, and farm entry and growth. Brown has recently published a summary of the 2018 Farm Bill and an outlook for U.S. Corn Exports for the coming years. Brown’s Commodity Outlook will provide farmers with information on making planting and marketing decisions for the 2019 crop year.
Video Production 101 will be held on Monday, March 25, 2019, at 6 PM at the Lynchburg Public Library in Lynchburg, OH. The topic of this program will cover the basics of video productions for beginners and will be presented by Brooke Beam. If you have a small business and would like to incorporate more videos into your marketing plans or you are interested in learning the basics of video production, this program is for you!