Tom and Denise Warren are the founders and owners of Stone and Thistle Farm. Stone and Thistle Farm is a family farm in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains in central New York state. The farm produces meadow raised lamb, goat, chickens, turkeys, eggs, pork, beef and goat milk. The farm prides itself on offering products with no additives, hormones, antibiotics or drugs.
Jeff Hawkins co-founded Handspring with Donna Dubinsky in July of 1998 after five years together at Palm Computing. In 1994, Hawkins invented the original PalmPilot products and founded Palm Computing. He is often credited as the designer who reinvented the handheld market.
An industry veteran with nearly 20 years of technical expertise, Hawkins currently holds nine patents for various handheld devices and features. His vision for handheld computing dates back to the 1980s, when as Vice President of Research at GRiD Systems Corporation he served as principal architect and designer for the GRiDPad and GRiD Convertible. Prior to that, he held key technical positions with Intel Corporation.
He is also the founder and executive director of the non-profit Redwood Neuroscience Institute, a scientific research institute working on theories and mathematical models of brain function.
Hawkins earned his B.S. in electrical engineering from Cornell University.
Michael and Karma Glos began their small, diversified organic farm in Berkshire, New York, located 20 miles east of Ithaca, in 1996. Since then, three of those years have included commercial operations.
They specialize in producing free-range organic meat (poultry, pork, beef) and organic herbs and specialty vegetables, and are certified by NOFA-NY Certified Organic LLC. All the vegetables, herbs and poultry are certified; the pork and beef are raised according to organic standards after 6 weeks of age.
The Glos' launched their business with no formal training, but relied on a love of farming and their experiences as farming apprentices.
Rita Kellogg and her family founded Side Hill Acres in 1987 as a beef farm, but almost immediately transformed into a goat dairy. The company experienced tremendous growth in the initial years by selling goat milk to their cheese processor, Goat Folks. After this customer went out of business, the company resized and began to focus on producing the cheese on its own.
Elizabeth Wolf started Angel Ridge Farms in 1990 by growing herbs in the summer and producing wool in the winter, though eventually sold off the wool division. The herb product line was sold in local supermarkets and at the Ithaca Farmers' market. To complement the success of the herbs at the farmers' market, the farm introduced salad dressings and related fresh produce.
Other channels of distribution were explored, including sales to New York City, local restaurants, and grocery store warehouses. However, production constrained the success of these channels, and the company elected to continue on a lower scale at the higher-margin local supermarkets
Elizabeth Ryan has also served as Vice President of Ithaca Farmer's Market. She is a graduate of Cornell University.
Susan & Amy Machamer (a mother and daughter team, respectively) and their family are owners of Hurd Orchards, a fruit grower in operation since the early 1800's. Their product line has diversified into wholesale and retail produce, processed "jar products", a bakery, and foodservice. The term "jar products" refers to their lines of jams, jellies, brandy fruits, pickles, vinegars, chutneys, sauces, and cordials. This diversification is the result of innovation, product development, and effective niche marketing. The company has successfully differentiated their high quality products by developing their products along with their brand image. The company shows remarkable tenacity and desire to stay true to their philosophy and mission of sustaining production of quality fruit products.
Susan & Amy Machamer (a mother and daughter team, respectively) and their family are owners of Hurd Orchards, a fruit grower in operation since the early 1800's.
Their product line has diversified into wholesale and retail produce, processed "jar products", a bakery, and foodservice. The term "jar products" refers to their lines of jams, jellies, brandy fruits, pickles, vinegars, chutneys, sauces, and cordials. This diversification is the result of innovation, product development, and effective niche marketing. The company has successfully differentiated their high quality products by developing their products along with their brand image.
The company shows remarkable tenacity and desire to stay true to their philosophy and mission of sustaining production of quality fruit products.
Cheryl Rogowski expanded the family farm, created in 1955 by her father, Walter, to include hundreds of varieties of fruits and vegetables and a division called Cheryline's Fancies. Nearly everything about the original farm has changed, including the complete transition from wholesale onions to diverse retail produce and the multiplication (from 15 to 150 acres) of black dirt.
Part of this transition was a result of fungal disease pressure from monocropping, but another factor was Cheryl's desire to grow less common but beautiful varieties of fruits and vegetables that she was reading about and experimenting with in her home kitchen.
The W. Rogowski farm sells its produce at the farmers' markets of New York City and the surrounding community under the leadership of Cheryl's brother, Mike. Involvement with other vendors and Community Supported Agriculture programs, such as the nonprofit Just Food, has helped the farm overcome challenges such as marketing and setting up effective and durable displays. Cheryl credits her ability to persevere despite these challenges and inherent risks as the main reason for the farm's successful bottom line.
Laurie Linn is the President of Communique Design & Marketing, Inc. She has fifteen years experience in the field of marketing stemming from consulting with major financial institutions, such as Citibank, Chase and Bank One to smaller institutions around the globe.