For those who dare to imagine something different, something extraordinary, the inaugural RutgersX Accelerator Conference scheduled for Nov. 16 in New Brunswick promises an opportunity to learn from entrepreneurs in the food industry who will pitch their products to an audience of angel investors and potential strategic partners… “Attendees will have an opportunity to learn directly from investors the nuances of what they are looking for in a product and the person leading the business, as well as the team, and it will most likely prove to be very eye-opening,” said Lou Cooperhouse, director, Rutgers Food Innovation Center, and president, NJ Business Incubation Network, who is spearheading the RutgersX initiative. The daylong event will also include: panel discussions with food industry leaders and conversations with successful entrepreneurs and venture capitalists… Throughout the RutgersX, entrepreneurs working in the food industry, whose products are already on the market, will be pitching the value of their product and their vision to a range of investors with the goal of acquiring additional funding needed to take their businesses to the next level.
GARDENER STATE: No Horsing Around at This Conference!
How often is it that you may hear about or feel the allure and “romanticism” of the thought of owning a famous race horse or operating a horse farm? But for many beginning farmers or those considering launching equine operations or switching careers into agriculture, reality can rear its ugly head when it comes to having a business plan, legal and financial footing, and dealing with the business end of running a successful and sustainable farm or ranch… In light of this, for aspiring, relatively new, and existing horse owners and facility operators, the Equine Science Center at Rutgers University is hosting the “Symposium on Legal, Business, and Insurance Issues Impacting the Equine Industry” on Monday, Oct. 12, at The Palace at Somerset Park, Somerset, section of Franklin… “This symposium is a MUST for all professional horse people, irrespective of discipline or industry interest,” said Karyn Malinowski, director of the Equine Science Center. “Never before has the Center assembled such an exemplary panel of experts, thanks to the vision of Liz Durkin Esq., Vice-Chair of the Rutgers University Board for Equine Advancement, on topics of utmost importance to equine operation owners and/or managers.”
Rutgers Launches Food Accelerator Program, Conference
The Rutgers Food Innovation Center recently launched RutgersX, the first business accelerator program at the university… Business accelerators provide a cohort of entrepreneurial companies with a mentoring team that brings professional expertise and a venue in which they can “pitch” their business to a community of angel and venture investors, strategic partners, and retail and food-service customers. The first cohort of companies will be pitch presenters at the RutgersX Accelerating Food Entrepreneurs Conference on Nov. 16 at the Rutgers College Avenue Student Center in New Brunswick… “Given the tremendous interest we have in RutgersX, and our New Brunswick location that makes this an easy commute from the tristate area, we are confident that our 2015 conference will be a sold-out event, and will be continued in 2016 and beyond,” said Lou Cooperhouse, founder of RutgersX and director of the Rutgers Food Innovation Center in a news release. “We are already making plans to expand our program and include other industry sectors in future years.”
Take Part in Public Lands Celebration
This article was written by Nicholas Polanin, associate professor and agricultural agent II at Rutgers University… On Saturday, Sept. 26, more than 175,000 volunteers and park visitors will celebrate at more than 2,100 public land sites in all 50 sta…
Sweeney, Smith Tour New Facilities at Rutgers
Senators Steven Sweeney and Bob Smith toured new facilities at Rutgers and met with Honors College students. The experience left both impressed with the direction of higher education in the state… Sweeney and Smith joined Rutgers University President…
Oldwick Resident Given Citation For Doing Plant Therapy
After her daughter died, 89-year-old Lorraine Galbraith of Oldwick, was left alone. Gradually, her life, and her connections to others, grew smaller. She put herself in a wheelchair and lived in social isolation and in poor health. Over the years, she soldiered through Hurricane Sandy and numerous medical issues, including a stroke, by herself… Eventually, Right at Home Care, Galbraith’s caregivers, suggested horticultural therapy, which uses gardening and planting related activities to help better the lives of patients. Whittlesey contacted Laura DePrado, president of Final Touch Landscaping and a registered horticultural therapist with the American Horticultural Therapy Association (AHTA), to work with Galbraith… “It couldn’t be more appropriate and beautiful to hold this event,” added DePrado, who studied horticultural therapy at the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences… According to Professor Joel Flagler, who teaches horticultural studies at Rutgers University, the therapy works because everyone can relate to plants in one way or another – we eat them, build with them and wear them on a daily basis.
Rutgers Alumni Naturally Bring Walls to Life
In October, the Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health (IFNH) at Rutgers University will open, and a breathtaking highlight will become public knowledge. The award-winning structure under construction at Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences is home to the largest interior living wall in the state… Measuring 40 feet tall by 33 feet wide, the living wall is the creation of EcoWalls, a business founded by Rutgers alumni Michael Coraggio and Ryan Burrows, both of Flemington. Coraggio received his degree in landscape architecture, while Burrows earned a master’s degree in ecology and evolution… A vertical garden design and installation company that was part of the Rutgers Business Incubator program housed at the Rutgers EcoComplex in Bordentown, EcoWalls was founded in 2008… For Coraggio and Burrows, the living wall on the Cook College campus is a “coming home” for the two. Life partners for 12 years, both credit their alma mater with inspiring and enabling them to do what they do.
Volunteers Committed to Giving Back to the Community
Forty-two Cushman & Wakefield volunteers, including members of the commercial real estate services firm’s New Jersey Future Leaders Group and other employees from its three Garden State offices, teamed up this summer with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Plainfield & Middlesex County to help create affordable housing in partnership with New Jersey low-income families… Additionally, Cushman & Wakefield is working internally to raise money to support a $100,000 pledge made by the Rutgers University Habitat for Humanity chapter to fund one of the West Seventh Street homes, which, in 2013, Cushman & Wakefield helped frame… “Cushman & Wakefield’s New Jersey Future Leaders and other team members are committed to giving back to the larger community, and the real estate connection with Habitat for Humanity makes this worthy organization a natural fit for us,” noted Christa DiLalo Petti, a Cushman & Wakefield senior research analyst based in the firm’s East Rutherford office, who organized the effort. “We also are pleased to assist the next generation of young leaders at Rutgers achieve their financial goal. Everyone involved appreciates the concept that we have come full-circle with our support – in both time and funding – for the West Seventh Street project.”
Summer Time and the Harvest is Mighty Fine!
Hooray! It’s the height of the summer and New Jersey’s harvest season is in full swing. It’s time to savor the incredible flavors the Garden State farmers have to offer. Tomatoes, sweet corn, and peaches top the list of summertime favorites and they are now all being harvested and sold across New Jersey!… Ever wonder why farmers’ tomatoes are ready before the ones growing in your garden? It’s because many farmers plant their first tomatoes in high-tunnel hoop houses to ensure a longer season, beginning around the 4th of July. When asked about other season-extending growing methods, Michelle Casella of Rutgers Cooperative Extension said, “South Jersey farmers also use low tunnels covered with row fabric to have field grown tomatoes ready sooner and using black plastic mulch to warm soils.”
Rutgers Narrows Search to Reinvent Jersey Tomato
A new tomato that combines the nostalgia-inducing flavor of an heirloom with the durability of supermarket varieties is Rutgers’ answer to anyone who wonders what happened to the flavorful Jersey tomatoes of the past… The Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES) has tested hundreds of plants to try to create a new version of the luscious tomato – that carried the Rutgers name – and was popular from the Depression through the 1960s… “What people remember as the Jersey tomato was really the Rutgers tomato,” said Tom Orton, a professor in the Department of Plant Biology and Pathology. “It was ubiquitous. People grew it in their backyards. It had a high flavor that explodes in your mouth and makes you say, ‘Wow, that is really good.'”… Although the official name of the new tomato has not been chosen, it will be selected to honor Rutgers’ 250th anniversary, said Orton, who oversees the university’s tomato breeding program as a specialist with NJAES.
