FPC 40th Anniversary Panel

IANR Media Author

06/13/2023 Added

24 Plays

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FPC Executive Director Terry Howell introduces a panel discussion of the FPC's past and present.

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[00:00:10.470]First of all, let me just say thank you
[00:00:13.876]all for being here.
[00:00:15.936]It's really a wonderful occasion to celebrate
[00:00:18.200]the 40th anniversary of the Food Processing Center.
[00:00:22.590]And we're gonna tell a few stories about its founding
[00:00:25.800]and then hear from some guests, panelists today
[00:00:29.700]just to tell us about their experiences with the FPC
[00:00:32.190]and maybe help us think a little bit
[00:00:33.540]about the future of the FPC.
[00:00:36.000]Let me introduce myself briefly.
[00:00:37.710]I'm Terry Howell.
[00:00:39.210]I'm the Executive director of the Food Processing Center.
[00:00:41.940]I joined the University of Nebraska nearly five years ago,
[00:00:45.930]and it's been a really exciting five years here.
[00:00:50.190]And as we get going today,
[00:00:52.200]I would like to just welcome and kind of recognize
[00:00:56.100]a bunch of special guests that we have here.
[00:00:58.200]So first I'd like to recognize
[00:01:02.220]and just see if we have any current
[00:01:04.440]and former clients in the room.
[00:01:06.360]So if you're a current or former client
[00:01:09.680]of the Food Processing Center,
[00:01:11.070]maybe raise your hand or if you wanna stand up,
[00:01:14.550]and say hi, I'd love to see who's here.
[00:01:17.520]So we got a few of you in the room. Thank you.
[00:01:21.510]So, yay!
[00:01:22.515](audience applauding)
[00:01:26.130]So it's come to my attention that Dave Vetter over here
[00:01:29.490]may have been the original first client of the FPC.
[00:01:33.210]So that's pretty exciting and really excited
[00:01:35.790]that you came to join us today.
[00:01:37.410]So love to hear more about that in the future.
[00:01:42.150]How about any current and former employees of the FPC?
[00:01:47.280]So if you were a student worker or a former staff member
[00:01:50.070]or current staff member, love to see you and recognize you.
[00:01:54.330]So, stand up, raise your hand. There you go.
[00:01:58.673]It's a bit of a good crowd of you so...
[00:02:02.970]Would love to also recognize a few university administrators
[00:02:07.590]and those department administrators that are here.
[00:02:10.050]So we have Dr. David Jackson,
[00:02:12.300]who is the Vice Provost of the NU system
[00:02:14.310]and instrumental in the FPC.
[00:02:16.290]Glad that you could be here.
[00:02:18.484](audience applauding)
[00:02:22.410]We have Dr. Steve Taylor, who is a former department head,
[00:02:25.770]former FPC director, Professor Emeritus,
[00:02:29.271]and he's joining us today on our panel.
[00:02:31.710]So, welcome Steve.
[00:02:33.534](audience applauding)
[00:02:35.760]And certainly wanna recognize Dr. Kurt Weller,
[00:02:38.940]our current Department Head and Director of the FPC.
[00:02:41.430]So, hello to Kurt.
[00:02:43.109](audience applauding)
[00:02:46.871]So lastly, I wanna recognize
[00:02:49.114]some of our board members that made it.
[00:02:51.000]We have Jesse Haive,
[00:02:52.200]the chair of our advisory board over here.
[00:02:55.650]We had Doug Baldwin, I think.
[00:02:58.230]I don't know if he slipped in or out,
[00:02:59.610]he may have had to move on.
[00:03:01.380]We had a board meeting this morning,
[00:03:02.760]and he had a long drive back home.
[00:03:05.070]We have Stan Garbacz,
[00:03:06.690]who is a former board member of about a decade walk with us.
[00:03:09.960]I don't know where Stan went.
[00:03:13.350]Stan is hiding okay,
[00:03:16.680]so anyway, thank you all for being here.
[00:03:18.373]Maybe before we get going on any other parts of the program,
[00:03:22.560]I just wanna recognize and thanks Charissa Hire
[00:03:25.260]and Julie Riling and John Wilson for their help today.
[00:03:29.160]So thank you for helping with all the planning.
[00:03:32.689](audience applauding)
[00:03:36.510]Okay, so here's one of the things I was thinking about is,
[00:03:44.010]you know, this center has been around for 40 years.
[00:03:47.700]And so one of the things that crossed my mind
[00:03:51.090]is just remembering what was going on 40 years ago.
[00:03:55.440]And so I've got a little bit of pop culture
[00:03:58.005]and other things, events that were happening 40 years ago.
[00:04:02.280]I was a 12-year-old,
[00:04:04.560]so this was like prime coming of age time for me.
[00:04:09.180]So these things, I'm gonna share a few highlights with you.
[00:04:13.260]They might not resonate with you,
[00:04:14.460]but these were fun for me to remember.
[00:04:16.110]So the first one is, how about this?
[00:04:19.770]The Huskers had a good football team 40 years ago.
[00:04:22.075](audience laughing)
[00:04:22.908]They won the Orange Bowl.
[00:04:25.495]This is another favorite of mine.
[00:04:28.417]"The A Team" debuted in January of 1983.
[00:04:33.060]Has anyone ever seen the original
[00:04:34.357]"A Team" television series?
[00:04:36.540]This was can't-miss-Monday-night for me.
[00:04:39.690]I could not wait to see Mr T.
[00:04:44.340]Here's something another, oops, I got ahead of myself.
[00:04:48.420]In January of 1983 in the UK in an effort
[00:04:52.410]to reduce driving deaths,
[00:04:53.970]they passed a new law that required people
[00:04:56.400]to wear seat belts in the driver's seat
[00:04:59.220]and passenger front seat of cars 1983.
[00:05:02.940]So prior to that, that was in the UK,
[00:05:04.966]the US followed shortly thereafter.
[00:05:07.800]But you know, those of us can remember
[00:05:09.870]when you didn't have to wear seat belts
[00:05:11.070]unless you really wanted to.
[00:05:14.790]The Dow Jones closed above 1100
[00:05:17.730]in February for the first time.
[00:05:21.223]Then we have Michael Jackson,
[00:05:24.120]the Thriller album debuted at number one in 1983
[00:05:28.500]and stayed there for 37 weeks.
[00:05:32.790]The final TV episode of "M.A.S.H." happened in 1983.
[00:05:37.080]It was the most viewed, you know, television show ever,
[00:05:41.400]and may still be for all I know.
[00:05:44.216]125 million people watched that final episode.
[00:05:49.560]Here's another favorite.
[00:05:50.430]The Compact Disc was developed in 1983.
[00:05:56.160]So prior to that we were using cassette tapes.
[00:05:59.940]Many of you in the room might not even know
[00:06:01.380]what either one of those are.
[00:06:04.920]We also had the sixth NASA Space Shuttle Mission.
[00:06:09.570]The Challenger 1 launched in 1983.
[00:06:13.950]Laverne & Shirley finished its primetime run,
[00:06:18.397]"Return of the Jedi" debuted,
[00:06:20.460]the third of the original "Star Wars" movies.
[00:06:27.960]Sally Ride became the first female astronaut,
[00:06:31.590]and she was a part of the Challenger 2 mission.
[00:06:35.160]So back then, the space shuttles were launching,
[00:06:37.350]you know, almost every couple of months.
[00:06:39.990]And we used to watch them on TV every time they launched.
[00:06:42.930]It was special.
[00:06:44.548]Here's one, "Mario Brothers" was released by Nintendo
[00:06:50.370]as an arcade game about an Italian American plumber.
[00:06:53.490]So 40 years ago, Mario was, you know, had his birth
[00:06:57.447]and still I think is quite popular.
[00:07:04.950]Billy Joel released An Innocent Man album,
[00:07:07.680]which was one of my favorites in those days.
[00:07:11.970]There was a Korean Boeing 747 that strayed into Siberia
[00:07:18.930]was shot down by the Soviets.
[00:07:20.610]And so if you lived in those days,
[00:07:23.430]the Cold War was still still quite strong.
[00:07:26.490]And so that was quite, you know,
[00:07:29.190]kind of nerve rattling for many folks in the US.
[00:07:33.960]But luckily Arnold Schwarzenegger
[00:07:35.670]became a US citizen not long after.
[00:07:42.000]In November of 1983,
[00:07:45.247]"Terms of Endearment" was released in movie theaters
[00:07:48.750]starring Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger
[00:07:51.480]and it won the best picture in 1984.
[00:07:55.770]And we're gonna come back to that in one second.
[00:07:58.350]We also had Radio Shack announcing the Tandy Model 2000
[00:08:02.520]computer with a 186 chip in it.
[00:08:07.320]I'm not sure there's anything
[00:08:08.850]that has less computing power
[00:08:10.380]in the world right now than that.
[00:08:13.706]And again, Huskers dominance on the football field.
[00:08:16.290]Mike Rozier won the Heisman Trophy that year,
[00:08:19.350]so a good year for Nebraska football.
[00:08:23.010]So let's go back just a couple of of items there.
[00:08:26.760]So some of you who maybe lived in Nebraska in Lincoln
[00:08:31.470]in 1983, may know this story,
[00:08:34.620]but apparently as Debra Winger,
[00:08:37.140]the film "Terms of Endearment"
[00:08:39.030]was filmed partially in Lincoln and in Nebraska.
[00:08:43.470]And apparently Debra Winger and Bob Kerrey
[00:08:46.980]began a romantic relationship during those years.
[00:08:50.427]And I think they were a couple for two or three years
[00:08:53.640]after that time.
[00:08:54.600]Well, lo and behold, during that time period of all people,
[00:08:59.040]Bob Kerry, the Governor of Nebraska,
[00:09:01.560]was instrumental in founding the FPC.
[00:09:04.650]And so the FPC was founded as a part of a legislative act
[00:09:09.226]by the state government,
[00:09:10.980]and he was instrumental in doing it.
[00:09:12.390]So somehow, somewhere "Terms of Endearment"
[00:09:16.410]relates to the FPC.
[00:09:17.880]So if you ever watched that movie,
[00:09:19.530]I think we can go back and thank that movie
[00:09:22.650]for beginning the FPC.
[00:09:24.930]All right, so thanks for the kinda the walk through
[00:09:27.510]memory lane there.
[00:09:28.440]Let's talk a little bit about some of the things
[00:09:30.300]that the FPC, some of the accomplishments and milestones
[00:09:32.760]that have happened over the last 40 years.
[00:09:36.150]You know, this is kind of the first couple of decades or so,
[00:09:40.560]first few years.
[00:09:44.010]The center was established again by a legislative act
[00:09:46.680]and had a lot of influence from the governor Bob Kerrey.
[00:09:49.890]It had also had some influence
[00:09:52.410]from the Department of Economic Development.
[00:09:54.000]I'm not sure if any of our Department of Economic
[00:09:56.580]Development colleagues were able to make it today,
[00:09:58.757]but that group continues
[00:10:00.390]to be a strong supporter of our center.
[00:10:05.100]In 1987, the microbiology lab was set up,
[00:10:08.220]and began, and that's when Steve Taylor was hired
[00:10:10.979]also as the department head and director of the center.
[00:10:15.120]And Steve's gonna tell a few more stories
[00:10:16.920]about his time in that role.
[00:10:19.740]1989, we established the National Food Entrepreneur Program.
[00:10:24.771]That program still thrives today
[00:10:27.630]and we're grateful for Jill Gifford's leadership there
[00:10:30.270]over the last 30 plus years.
[00:10:33.900]And then in 1990,
[00:10:35.598]they had the dedication of the food industry's complex
[00:10:39.330]there adjacent to Philly Hall.
[00:10:41.670]And that complex was quite critical
[00:10:44.520]to the growth of the Food Processing Center.
[00:10:46.320]It established a new home for the microbiology lab,
[00:10:49.200]but it also created a pilot plant space.
[00:10:51.990]And that pilot plant space was quite,
[00:10:54.180]was important for allowing the center
[00:10:56.988]to begin a stronger outreach to the food industry.
[00:11:02.040]And so that's probably when the Wenger extruders
[00:11:04.770]were donated and the beginnings
[00:11:06.720]of the extrusion short course
[00:11:07.980]and many other things that took place from there.
[00:11:12.210]We have a little bit of a gap, but in 2006,
[00:11:14.580]so we've gotta fill in our history from 90 to 2006,
[00:11:17.550]but we'll do that later.
[00:11:18.799]But in 2006, Rolando Flores was hired
[00:11:22.350]as the department head and director of the center
[00:11:24.570]and held that role for about a decade or more.
[00:11:29.460]As the University of Nebraska moved into the Big 10,
[00:11:31.740]we formed the Big 10 gift box for the dairy store.
[00:11:35.550]And that was, you know, that continues to be a good seller.
[00:11:41.499]We helped launch the Manufacturing Extension partnership.
[00:11:47.173]And then in 2015, the Food Processing Center
[00:11:51.011]moved out here to the Nebraska Innovation Campus.
[00:11:54.581]So we've been out here for almost eight years.
[00:11:59.760]I think this fall will be eight years.
[00:12:01.830]And that probably has also been one of the most instrumental
[00:12:04.560]things in improving and allowing the FPC to grow.
[00:12:10.462]That included the addition of innovation campus
[00:12:14.220]partnering companies that now could co-work
[00:12:16.920]and work with us.
[00:12:18.870]And that's been quite a valuable element
[00:12:22.620]to the Food Processing Center.
[00:12:27.930]In 2016, the Preventive Controls workshops
[00:12:31.920]were first offered,
[00:12:32.753]so these were in response
[00:12:33.720]to the Food Safety Modernization Act.
[00:12:36.150]And so we continued to offer those workshops
[00:12:39.750]and we added our brewing equipment.
[00:12:43.200]And then then Kurt Weller was hired as department head
[00:12:46.650]and director of the FPC in 2017.
[00:12:52.470]I came here in 2018.
[00:12:56.040]And then a few items that happened
[00:12:58.680]in the next couple of years.
[00:13:00.330]One, we had the relocation of the dairy store,
[00:13:04.710]which, if any of you were there for the grand reopening,
[00:13:08.130]that was the day that the university closed for COVID.
[00:13:12.270]So we had, you know, a massive gathering in the dairy store.
[00:13:16.080]And then basically began the COVID kind of precautions.
[00:13:22.800]During that time, we also moved the dairy plant
[00:13:25.230]over to the Innovation Campus.
[00:13:27.759]We began and started and stopped and completed
[00:13:31.740]the Hand Sanitizer Program,
[00:13:33.450]where we produced 200,000 gallons of hand sanitizer.
[00:13:37.740]And we really began in earnest trying to create
[00:13:41.912]some experiential learning opportunities
[00:13:44.160]for students in those years.
[00:13:48.390]In 2021, we launched our Carter's Coffee Crunch ice cream,
[00:13:52.410]which has been quite popular.
[00:13:55.800]The Sensory Lab and the Product Development Lab
[00:13:58.530]worked with the university's theater arts program
[00:14:01.500]to create an edible blood,
[00:14:03.540]which was kind of a fun project
[00:14:05.430]that they did for a production over there.
[00:14:09.364]And then we certified,
[00:14:13.980]we had our dairy plant certified as SQF compliant,
[00:14:17.700]which has been a nice addition to the capabilities
[00:14:21.535]that we have in that plant
[00:14:22.950]and opportunities to train students.
[00:14:25.860]And then lastly, I just wanna recognize A+ Berry
[00:14:27.990]as one of our partnering sweet spot companies.
[00:14:31.710]You know, they're in the back with some samples,
[00:14:34.980]and so they've been a good partner of ours
[00:14:37.319]and are doing a great job in building their business.
[00:14:40.471]So, it's been a really exciting 40 years.
[00:14:44.820]There's been a lot accomplished by this group
[00:14:48.846]and by the people that work here,
[00:14:50.853]and I think there's a bright future ahead,
[00:14:53.470]and so one of the things that we'll do is
[00:14:57.690]I'll just kinda share with you some of the things
[00:14:59.310]over the last five years that kind of highlight
[00:15:01.590]some of the kinds of things that we've done
[00:15:05.515]and highlight some of our accomplishments.
[00:15:08.400]One of 'em is that we've had over the last five years
[00:15:11.670]about 6.2 million dollars
[00:15:13.290]in external revenue generated by our center.
[00:15:16.350]So this is money that our partnering companies
[00:15:19.230]and clients have spent on the projects
[00:15:24.330]that we do to help serve them
[00:15:25.650]and advance the food industry.
[00:15:28.080]We've had over 1,250 unique customers.
[00:15:31.085]Some of those may be repeat,
[00:15:32.640]but 1,250, you know, customer clients served
[00:15:35.667]over the last five years.
[00:15:38.340]We've made 17,503 gallon buckets of ice cream.
[00:15:42.570]Where's Mary at?
[00:15:45.120]Yeah, we've made 16,000 1.5 quart containers
[00:15:49.020]of ice cream and we've made over 75,000
[00:15:51.316]8 ounce cups of ice cream.
[00:15:53.640]So we consumed, you know, maybe a hundred of them today.
[00:15:57.180]But, you know, those have been quite popular
[00:16:00.930]and are something that keeps the dairy plant busy.
[00:16:05.070]We've had over 700 workshop attendees.
[00:16:08.576]We've had 145 different product development clients
[00:16:12.090]that have come through the center,
[00:16:14.370]greater than 60 sensory projects
[00:16:17.070]that we've done and greater than 175 days of extrusion,
[00:16:22.223]you know, in our pilot plant.
[00:16:25.648]So a lot and then not to mention just tons of other projects
[00:16:30.480]through our high pressure processing
[00:16:32.520]validation lab, the microbiology lab,
[00:16:35.640]and our other chemistry service centers.
[00:16:37.620]So we're just beginning to kind of count
[00:16:41.275]all of the impacts that this group has had.
[00:16:44.010]So just wanna say thank you to our team
[00:16:46.860]and all of those who've contributed for those successes.
[00:16:50.405]Alright, so here's the important part of the program.
[00:16:53.880]We've got four really special guests that have agreed
[00:16:57.060]to join us and share a few thoughts about their experiences
[00:17:01.740]with the center and maybe some things
[00:17:05.973]that we can think about moving forward.
[00:17:08.460]So I'm gonna begin introducing them,
[00:17:11.070]and they're gonna come forward
[00:17:12.390]and take a spot on the panel.
[00:17:15.060]So first I'll introduce Steve Taylor.
[00:17:17.100]So Steve was named Professor Emeritus
[00:17:19.500]in the Department of Food Science and Technology.
[00:17:21.240]Upon his retirement in 2019, after 38 years,
[00:17:25.020]he first joined the UNL as a professor,
[00:17:27.510]and head of the Department of Food Science and Technology
[00:17:30.030]and directed the Food Processing Center in July of 1987.
[00:17:34.200]And he served as its second director until 2006.
[00:17:39.102]And under his leadership, the FPC expanded
[00:17:41.730]over the years to include impactful programs,
[00:17:43.890]such as assistance to entrepreneurial startup ventures,
[00:17:46.602]product and process development services,
[00:17:50.190]analytical and microbiological testing, workshops,
[00:17:55.260]and then a role in the Nebraska Manufacturing
[00:17:57.360]Extension Partnership and others.
[00:17:59.550]He received his BS and MS degrees in food science
[00:18:02.760]from Oregon State University,
[00:18:04.590]and his PhD in biochemistry from UC Davis,
[00:18:08.340]and then additional training in toxicology and nutrition
[00:18:12.600]through programs at UC Davis.
[00:18:15.180]Before coming to the University of Nebraska,
[00:18:16.950]he served for three years as Chief
[00:18:18.870]of the Food Toxicology Lab
[00:18:21.448]at the Letterman Army Institute of Research in San Francisco
[00:18:24.780]and nine years as a faculty member
[00:18:26.304]with the Food Research Institute
[00:18:28.200]at the University of Wisconsin.
[00:18:30.120]So let's welcome Dr. Taylor to our panel.
[00:18:33.077](audience applauding)
[00:18:38.340]Next I'd like to introduce Tessa Porter.
[00:18:40.920]Tessa is the president and founder of Sprinkk.
[00:18:44.580]It's an Omaha, Nebraska based company
[00:18:46.470]focusing on confectionary process design
[00:18:49.320]and small scale contract manufacturing.
[00:18:52.440]Sprinkk is on a mission to expand opportunity
[00:18:55.050]and reduce manufacturing hurdles for both new products
[00:18:58.080]and new businesses nationwide.
[00:19:00.060]The Sprinkk scale-up process has been tested
[00:19:02.370]through the launch of Norma's,
[00:19:04.260]a new natural fruit snack brand that Tessa developed
[00:19:07.230]in 2021 together with her grandmother Norma.
[00:19:10.200]And additionally Tessa uses Sprinkk
[00:19:11.790]to amplify the voice of women in STEM,
[00:19:14.610]introduced confectionary science to students
[00:19:16.650]and advocate for careers in the trades and manufacturing.
[00:19:20.280]Prior to starting her own company,
[00:19:21.570]Tessa led a Ferrara Candy company
[00:19:24.238]as head of Innovation and Technology.
[00:19:26.252]She is proud to have developed a unique and powerful
[00:19:28.650]R&D team as well as many unique products ranging
[00:19:31.208]from wrap protein gummies
[00:19:33.417]to the full line of Black Forest organic products.
[00:19:37.920]Her background also includes managing contract manufacturing
[00:19:40.980]for Glanbia Performance Nutrition,
[00:19:43.323]innovating as a scientist and intern
[00:19:45.510]at the Hershey Company
[00:19:46.380]and consulting for multiple small and mid-sized
[00:19:49.384]food and beverage companies.
[00:19:51.061]Tessa serves on the board of directors
[00:19:53.144]for the Confectionary Foundation,
[00:19:55.059]is a 2019 NCA future leader and active
[00:19:59.017]on the American Association of Candy Technologist
[00:20:01.800]Education Committee and dedicates time for inspiring
[00:20:05.250]science education through candy.
[00:20:07.620]She has a master's in food science
[00:20:09.570]from the University of Wisconsin, Madison
[00:20:11.010]and we share the same advisor.
[00:20:13.500]So that's always been fun to talk about
[00:20:15.990]and relive memories.
[00:20:17.820]She has an MBA from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln,
[00:20:21.326]and in her free time, you'll find her in a yoga studio
[00:20:24.210]or hanging out with family
[00:20:25.080]or chasing the wind through kite surfing.
[00:20:27.920]And so I wanna welcome Tessa to our panel.
[00:20:31.813](audience applauding)
[00:20:37.260]Third is gonna be Ashley Bernstein.
[00:20:39.030]Ashley is a professional ice cream taster,
[00:20:41.490]a self-proclaimed foodie and champion of the consumer.
[00:20:45.000]She currently works as a senior century scientist
[00:20:47.400]at Wells Enterprises, promoting innovation
[00:20:50.040]and development and ensuring satisfaction
[00:20:51.861]of Blue Bunny, Bomb Pop And Blue Ribbon Classics,
[00:20:55.320]frozen treats.
[00:20:56.670]Ashley started her R&D in sensory career by working
[00:20:59.190]in the FPC's Product Development Lab
[00:21:00.870]during her undergraduate tenure from 2009 to '12.
[00:21:04.230]She then returned to the department
[00:21:05.610]to complete her master's and pursue a focus in sensory.
[00:21:08.640]Crediting the FPC for a part of her career success,
[00:21:11.280]Ashley looks forward to helping develop
[00:21:13.380]the capabilities of future generations
[00:21:15.090]of students and entrepreneurs.
[00:21:16.260]So welcome Ashley.
[00:21:17.747](audience applauding)
[00:21:22.490]And lastly I'm gonna introduce Jessi Hoeft.
[00:21:26.670]Jessi is the co-founder of Ensign Beverage
[00:21:29.670]and First Street Brewing Company out of Hastings, Nebraska.
[00:21:32.850]Her brewing background goes back to 1995
[00:21:35.400]when she brewed her first batch of kombucha.
[00:21:38.040]Jessi currently serves
[00:21:39.205]as the board chair at the UNL Food Processing Center,
[00:21:43.350]a director at Little Blue Natural Resource Department
[00:21:49.350]development, something in R&D,
[00:21:51.300]and Director and co VP at the Hastings Community Foundation.
[00:21:54.630]She is current lead the extra,
[00:21:56.370]and then I added, I repeated this,
[00:21:58.050]she's our advisory board chair.
[00:21:59.610]So thank you Jessi for being here.
[00:22:01.752](audience applauding)
[00:22:04.847]So if you can turn on your mics,
[00:22:06.600]I'm gonna ask a couple of questions of you.
[00:22:11.010]First I'm gonna ask Steve.
[00:22:13.080]So Steve, you've had the longest history
[00:22:15.990]with the FPC of anyone on the panel
[00:22:17.820]and probably maybe anybody in this room,
[00:22:20.190]so what things are missing from the timeline
[00:22:23.730]that we shared previously from your tenure and your memory
[00:22:27.360]and what are some of the challenges and highlights
[00:22:29.790]during your time as FPC director?
[00:22:33.390]Well the FPC really grew a lot from 1983 through 2006.
[00:22:40.630]I don't remember exactly how many employees I had
[00:22:43.273]as staff members of the Food Processing Center
[00:22:46.383]the time that I joined,
[00:22:48.150]but I think it was few (audio cuts off).
[00:22:54.990]Okay, now it's gonna work.
[00:22:56.850]I think I had fewer than five employees when I started.
[00:23:00.540]And so it's grown substantially.
[00:23:04.200]We tried a lot of different things over the years.
[00:23:08.100]Some of them worked fabulously well
[00:23:10.530]and still exist as part of the FPC's activities.
[00:23:16.080]Some of them failed,
[00:23:18.731]but we were always trying
[00:23:20.820]to start something new and different.
[00:23:23.850]I think the niche that I'm most proud of
[00:23:28.230]would probably be the one that Jill Gifford directed
[00:23:32.658]so admirably for so many years
[00:23:34.830]until she just very recently retired.
[00:23:37.290]Big loss Terry, big loss.
[00:23:40.860]And that's the entrepreneur program
[00:23:42.900]because the niche that this university can fill
[00:23:48.120]for small scale manufacturers,
[00:23:51.328]farmers that want to get into the vertical integration
[00:23:54.960]closer to the consumer
[00:23:59.760]and even mid-scale manufacturing is really unique.
[00:24:05.430]You know, the big companies,
[00:24:06.960]I've worked with a lot of the big companies
[00:24:08.550]for many, many years,
[00:24:10.440]they're gonna go wherever the experts are on a global basis.
[00:24:14.670]They know who they are, they know they can ask questions,
[00:24:18.930]they know they can hire 'em as consultants,
[00:24:21.497]and they're not necessarily gonna come
[00:24:24.510]to the University of Nebraska
[00:24:25.890]if they don't know somebody here.
[00:24:29.424]But the smaller companies will gravitate to us
[00:24:32.610]if we can really help them
[00:24:33.690]because they're ignored by most food science departments
[00:24:38.447]across the country,
[00:24:40.290]who are not equipped to really help them.
[00:24:43.110]And I think the most important thing is to listen
[00:24:47.796]to those small scale manufacturers,
[00:24:52.440]startup ventures, mid-scale manufacturers.
[00:24:56.550]They'll tell you what the obstacles are to their growth
[00:25:00.510]and that's where the University of Nebraska
[00:25:03.000]can fill some unique niches.
[00:25:06.390]Not only for Nebraska,
[00:25:07.830]but for the whole Midwest
[00:25:09.060]and probably the whole country,
[00:25:10.890]because we're still very unique.
[00:25:14.657]Yeah, thank you.
[00:25:16.560]Alright, I'm gonna ask a question of Tessa and Ashley next
[00:25:19.410]so you can kind of wrestle for who wants to go first,
[00:25:22.560]but, so both of you were student workers at the FPC
[00:25:25.940]at some point in your academic career.
[00:25:29.010]One, you know, how did you find the FPC
[00:25:31.800]and in what areas did you work
[00:25:33.630]and do you have any favorite memories
[00:25:35.567]of your time working in the FPC?
[00:25:40.110]I'll go first.
[00:25:41.460]So I found the FPC through just being a food science student
[00:25:46.140]and I actually found the food science department
[00:25:48.090]through trying to be a culinary student,
[00:25:50.190]but asked the culinary department
[00:25:52.470]if I could take chemistry as an elective.
[00:25:54.690]So they redirected me wisely over to food science.
[00:25:59.010]And then when I started in food science, my advisor,
[00:26:02.280]Dr. Susan Cupe realized that when I talked
[00:26:05.190]about I wanna create things,
[00:26:06.930]she directed me to the Food Processing Center
[00:26:09.900]and into the Product Development Lab.
[00:26:12.420]So I worked as a student scientist with Laurie Healer
[00:26:15.780]and worked a lot with Bethany doing new innovation.
[00:26:19.320]And one of my favorite memories is I had the opportunity,
[00:26:22.560]well I'm gonna say two, one,
[00:26:24.124]I got to work at the Beatrice Bakery Company,
[00:26:27.270]while I was representing the Food Processing Center
[00:26:29.730]because they were a client at the time.
[00:26:32.040]And so I spent a few days
[00:26:34.285]as just an operator in the fruitcake plant.
[00:26:39.120]And that was one of my first experiences
[00:26:42.030]with food manufacturing.
[00:26:43.980]And then my second fond memory
[00:26:46.470]is getting to start up some candy processing
[00:26:49.955]at the Food Processing Center.
[00:26:51.930]So FPC has always been really wildly supportive of this idea
[00:26:57.090]of, I wanna make candy and I wanna learn more about candy.
[00:27:00.270]And really helped spearhead my career
[00:27:03.600]through getting to set that lineup.
[00:27:07.920]Yeah, and I actually have a very similar story to Tessa.
[00:27:10.440]I think I followed in her footsteps.
[00:27:12.024]I was supposed to go into chronology as well.
[00:27:15.420]And then Kasner was like, "Here, we'll give you more money."
[00:27:17.880]And I said, "Sure, I'll come over here."
[00:27:20.280]That's a great decision.
[00:27:21.180]And I was looking at the Product Development Lab
[00:27:23.730]as a student and I think if Lori Kela were here
[00:27:26.220]and Julie Riley will say it as well,
[00:27:28.830]I begged them until there was an opening
[00:27:31.350]in the Product Development Lab.
[00:27:33.720]And I was like, "You need to hire me. I wanna work here.
[00:27:36.360]I will work as soon as you have an opening."
[00:27:38.760]And I think I had to wait until Tessa actually left.
[00:27:41.055](all laughing)
[00:27:43.209]So I think when Tessa left is when I finally got to come in
[00:27:45.729]and do some work.
[00:27:47.820]I loved pulling Taffy based on her recipe
[00:27:51.240]on making honey caramels.
[00:27:52.350]That was a great opportunity.
[00:27:53.640]But for me, what's I think more exciting now that
[00:27:56.940]I look back at it, we helped start up
[00:27:58.860]Yasso Frozen Greek Yogurt,
[00:28:00.690]and now in the dairy industry and specifically
[00:28:04.440]in the ice cream industry, we work with them again
[00:28:07.380]and I was there to see them from their very early
[00:28:10.470]startup days to how successful they are now.
[00:28:14.040]So that's one of the greatest memories.
[00:28:15.450]And I mean, working with all of our small businesses
[00:28:17.760]over the years has been very instrumental.
[00:28:21.876]Yeah, thank you.
[00:28:24.840]Jessi you know, you've been involved with the FPC
[00:28:30.000]maybe as a little bit of a client of the FPC
[00:28:31.797]and now as the chair of our advisory board.
[00:28:34.200]You've been on the board for maybe five-ish years now.
[00:28:38.010]So tell us how did you find the FPC
[00:28:40.456]and about your experiences here
[00:28:43.500]and particularly your role on the advisory board?
[00:28:47.790]Yeah, so I did come looking
[00:28:53.280]because while I had good business background,
[00:28:56.340]and I've had done startups before,
[00:28:58.710]none of it had been in the food realm.
[00:29:00.690]So I thought maybe I should get some food experience
[00:29:03.840]and I don't have a degree in food science or anything,
[00:29:06.990]I just like to cook at home.
[00:29:09.330]And so I decided that I would take
[00:29:11.970]the Recipe to Reality class with Jill,
[00:29:15.630]and I did that in 2016.
[00:29:19.410]And I actually, when Terry asked me to do this,
[00:29:22.650]I went back into go find my notes from that class
[00:29:25.380]'cause I still have my notes from that class.
[00:29:27.450]And then my side notes at the very bottom it said,
[00:29:30.787]"Ask Jill how to become more involved."
[00:29:34.170]Well, I guess I did
[00:29:35.310]because I'm still here five years later
[00:29:37.920]and I am now chairing this board.
[00:29:40.200]But that class, right across the street
[00:29:43.800]was really the launch of our business Ensign Beverage,
[00:29:50.670]which is the non-alcoholic side of what we do
[00:29:53.357]for our beverage lines.
[00:29:55.140]So that's what launched me into the FPC.
[00:29:59.486]Thank you.
[00:30:00.319]All right so Steve, I want you to kind of walk us
[00:30:03.090]back through memory lane a little bit.
[00:30:04.380]Do you remember when the extruders were donated
[00:30:09.600]to the university and how that happened?
[00:30:13.230]And can you tell us a little bit about, you know,
[00:30:17.970]the significance that has had in part of the FPC?
[00:30:21.480]Well, when the food industry complex was built
[00:30:25.470]and dedicated in 1990 for the first time,
[00:30:29.490]the department and the Food Processing Center
[00:30:32.610]had access to wonderful pilot plant facilities
[00:30:37.110]that would allow us to work with industry
[00:30:39.600]in a much more meaningful way than we had in the past.
[00:30:43.530]But in the scheme of things,
[00:30:48.930]we had money to build the building.
[00:30:51.090]We didn't have money to buy the equipment.
[00:30:55.445]We still don't, by the way.
[00:30:57.360]Yeah, we were beggars basically,
[00:31:01.624]but you know, the most interesting,
[00:31:04.410]I didn't mention the important role of the faculty
[00:31:08.040]in the genesis and progress of the Food Processing Center.
[00:31:12.180]We had expertise in extrusion already
[00:31:16.050]in the person of Professor Milford Hannah
[00:31:18.630]in biological systems engineering.
[00:31:21.630]And he was a world renowned expert in food extrusion.
[00:31:25.920]And we had Wenger Manufacturing in Sabetha, Kansas.
[00:31:29.006]And Dan Newmeister,
[00:31:32.520]who was associate director of the Food Processing Center
[00:31:35.100]during my early years,
[00:31:36.990]recognized how important building that relationship was.
[00:31:40.080]I think the equipment was donated in 1990.
[00:31:42.990]I have a really bad chronological memory,
[00:31:44.940]but it was really soon after the new building was dedicated,
[00:31:51.000]Wenger essentially donated a TX-52 Twin-Screw Extruder
[00:31:59.250]and they did maintenance for it for many years,
[00:32:06.750]I don't know if they still do, at a very low cost,
[00:32:10.965]sometimes free.
[00:32:12.870]And then we served as I used to call the grain processing
[00:32:19.020]pilot plant Wenger North,
[00:32:21.210]because they were there all the time
[00:32:23.799]because their clients couldn't fly to Sabetha
[00:32:26.550]but they could fly to Lincoln.
[00:32:29.400]And the mayor's always talking about how important it is
[00:32:31.860]to have a decent airport.
[00:32:33.060]Well here's another reason.
[00:32:36.000]And so we served a lot of their clients,
[00:32:41.707]and a lot of our own clients,
[00:32:44.524]and so I don't think we'd have that extrusion equipment.
[00:32:50.400]Then we hired David Jackson and Randy Wheeling was on board.
[00:32:54.780]So we had that kind of expertise,
[00:32:56.817]and that really makes a difference,
[00:32:59.160]the basic science expertise,
[00:33:00.960]the applied science expertise of faculty members
[00:33:03.408]to back up the equipment and things.
[00:33:07.740]So the most successful niches we have follow in those lines.
[00:33:12.998]One of the things you mentioned to me this week was,
[00:33:17.040]you mentioned the name of someone named Oak Smith.
[00:33:20.010]Can you tell us, I mean, I wasn't here then,
[00:33:22.680]so tell me what his relationship was to the center.
[00:33:26.269]I never had the privilege of meeting Oak Smith,
[00:33:31.021]but I found out who he was through the Wenger Brothers.
[00:33:35.010]So they hired Oak Smith at some point.
[00:33:37.320]I don't know all the history behind that,
[00:33:40.050]but Oak Smith by the Wenger Brothers was,
[00:33:42.990]was credited as being the fellow that realized
[00:33:47.850]that you could use extrusion for food processing
[00:33:50.263]and not just plastics processing.
[00:33:53.990]And so Wenger was one of the very first companies
[00:33:56.820]to use extrusion processing for food.
[00:34:01.800]And I think in 1990, they were the only company
[00:34:07.380]in the United States
[00:34:08.400]that made extrusion processing equipment.
[00:34:10.590]The rest of it was all made in other countries in the world.
[00:34:14.355]So that was another important niche to hold onto.
[00:34:18.810]And Oak Smith endowed with the foundation funding
[00:34:27.390]that still supports scholarships for a lot of students
[00:34:31.170]in the Department of Food Science and Technology.
[00:34:34.248]I'm always perplexed that they don't seem
[00:34:37.920]to know who Oak Smith is,
[00:34:38.877]and I think we ought to tell 'em every time
[00:34:40.400]in they cash one of his checks
[00:34:42.720]that he was a real true pioneer and entrepreneur.
[00:34:47.160]That's awesome. Thank you.
[00:34:49.189]So I'm gonna ask a question of our entrepreneurs
[00:34:52.260]in the panel, so Tessa or Jessi,
[00:34:55.320]you both have, you know, interesting,
[00:34:57.300]unique experience with entrepreneurship,
[00:35:00.210]and we've heard a little bit about how that's been
[00:35:02.214]an important part of the FPC over its history.
[00:35:06.660]In what ways can we improve the FPC offerings
[00:35:12.330]as it relates to entrepreneurs?
[00:35:14.010]What are some thoughts you might have on that area?
[00:35:19.080]So Steve, you kind of covered this already
[00:35:23.610]of just how knowing where to go is something
[00:35:27.060]that entrepreneurs don't always inherently know.
[00:35:30.510]There's a lot of, you don't know what you don't know.
[00:35:32.610]And so for the Food Processing Center,
[00:35:35.640]I think reaching them through advertising,
[00:35:40.140]where entrepreneurs might be is a good opportunity
[00:35:44.370]because there's a, you know,
[00:35:45.540]I come from the food science background,
[00:35:47.790]and so I know that the Food Processing Center exists,
[00:35:52.170]but I work with a lot of other entrepreneurs too,
[00:35:54.960]and they kind of find me through hit and miss,
[00:35:57.150]maybe through SEO of my website or word of mouth,
[00:36:02.280]but a lot of them just have no clue where to go.
[00:36:05.370]And so finding them somehow I think is an opportunity
[00:36:08.580]for the Food Processing Center
[00:36:09.750]because it is a huge opportunity
[00:36:13.560]and a great resource for entrepreneurs
[00:36:16.230]that can't maybe afford a larger service.
[00:36:21.420]Jessi, you have anything to add?
[00:36:23.043]I do a little bit.
[00:36:24.690]One of the things, now this could be viewed
[00:36:26.670]as a good thing or a bad thing,
[00:36:28.680]but the state of Nebraska seems to be
[00:36:31.920]about 10 years behind in different,
[00:36:34.462]when you talk about food trends and just trends in general,
[00:36:38.610]we're behind, we are kind of behind the curve.
[00:36:41.400]So if you wanna get ahead of that curve,
[00:36:45.600]you go look at the states,
[00:36:47.370]the coastal states and see kind of what they're doing.
[00:36:50.130]And so it's an easy way for us here at the FPC to go out,
[00:36:54.960]and find those companies that are like maybe lacking here
[00:36:59.468]in the middle and not yet popped.
[00:37:01.980]And you can find them, you can,
[00:37:03.570]that's one of the ways that we can kind of continue to grow
[00:37:07.710]and help those entrepreneurs that are not,
[00:37:10.260]that have not yet launched in the state of Nebraska.
[00:37:14.940]I think it's important too
[00:37:16.170]that when we started the entrepreneur program,
[00:37:19.050]we emphasize both teaching them about good business
[00:37:22.170]practices as well as good and safe technology.
[00:37:26.730]So you can have the best product in the world
[00:37:28.770]if you don't know how to market it and make a profit,
[00:37:31.320]you're not gonna last very long.
[00:37:33.630]Yeah, well said.
[00:37:35.562]Okay Ashley, I've got a question for you.
[00:37:37.830]So, working for a dairy company as long as you have,
[00:37:41.040]and thinking about the dairy plant that we have here
[00:37:44.700]at the university, are there some applied R&D gaps
[00:37:48.780]that you think of that a company like Wells that's
[00:37:53.700]you know, got a relatively big R&D staff already?
[00:37:56.070]I mean, are there gaps for a company like yours?
[00:37:58.770]Or do we need to focus on startups
[00:38:01.140]when it comes to our dairy plant?
[00:38:02.190]What are your thoughts around, you know,
[00:38:04.920]the dairy space for us?
[00:38:06.330]Yeah, I know that we have actually
[00:38:08.670]utilized the FPC for some of our more
[00:38:12.330]white space innovation.
[00:38:14.490]You know, we are pretty well known in the dairy space,
[00:38:18.870]especially ice cream.
[00:38:19.770]So we don't have to come here as much
[00:38:21.240]and we have all the equipment we need in our offices
[00:38:24.600]for pilot plant work and all that.
[00:38:26.460]But that white space innovation is really critical for us.
[00:38:29.790]How are we going to explore, you know,
[00:38:31.920]moving on from ice cream, do we, you know,
[00:38:33.630]go to the shelf stable area,
[00:38:36.210]and we don't have the functions to be able to do that.
[00:38:38.280]But I say specifically in my field,
[00:38:40.260]because I'm a sensory scientist,
[00:38:42.120]one of the things that I wanted to work with with Julie
[00:38:44.460]in the future is having more facilities that can help us.
[00:38:51.720]So increasing a database.
[00:38:53.160]I know that the database here is restricted
[00:38:56.580]to a lot of building panelists, but not city people.
[00:39:01.170]And we spent a lot of money working with outside agencies
[00:39:05.760]and it would be nice to instead take that money and invest
[00:39:08.700]into the university and say,
[00:39:10.627]"Hey, we will help pay for you to build your database
[00:39:13.706]for you then to be able to help us
[00:39:15.313]do all of our research needs."
[00:39:17.640]And I think there's a place for that 'cause
[00:39:20.160]we are more of a mid-size company
[00:39:21.750]and so we don't have some of the facilities
[00:39:23.760]that these larger companies can utilize.
[00:39:28.140]No, that's good.
[00:39:28.973]That's a good idea and good thought.
[00:39:31.470]Okay, as we kind of wind down a little bit of the panel,
[00:39:36.090]I've got a couple of questions that, you know,
[00:39:39.750]kind of toss out to the group,
[00:39:41.070]and then if there's interest we could have,
[00:39:44.160]there may be questions from the audience perhaps,
[00:39:46.350]but I'd love to know, you know,
[00:39:48.968]particularly from maybe Ashley or Tessa, you know,
[00:39:53.460]are there some things the FPC can do
[00:39:55.410]to ensure that our student worker experiences
[00:39:58.920]is as robust as it can be?
[00:40:01.214]Are there some things that we should be helping
[00:40:03.990]our students do so that they can thrive
[00:40:06.420]when they land in industry?
[00:40:08.430]Do you have any more comments or thoughts on that?
[00:40:11.100]I think one of the biggest things for me personally,
[00:40:13.530]for myself and then also, you know,
[00:40:15.330]hiring young scientists to an R&D team
[00:40:18.840]is taking the Food Processing Center
[00:40:21.570]has a really unique opportunity
[00:40:23.070]to take what is being learned in class, for example,
[00:40:26.670]like food engineering and apply that at the same time
[00:40:31.680]and give them real life experience.
[00:40:33.780]And so I think amplifying that really translates
[00:40:37.500]into successful scientists in the industry.
[00:40:42.480]Yeah, and I'll second that too.
[00:40:43.830]I know we work with some other universities
[00:40:45.570]in their business departments,
[00:40:47.430]and I would love to be able to work with food science
[00:40:49.920]students and really give them a project of ours
[00:40:52.770]and take them through the entire process,
[00:40:55.118]almost like a junior internship,
[00:40:57.540]while they're in class still
[00:40:58.890]and give them that experience.
[00:41:00.000]I'm really excited for the first time
[00:41:01.890]in many, many, many, many years,
[00:41:03.900]Wells has finally hired some UNL interns representatives.
[00:41:08.010]We have two this year, which is very exciting,
[00:41:10.740]getting them that exposure.
[00:41:12.360]But for the in-class exposure too, say,
[00:41:14.827]"Hey, you know, it's a mutual gain, right?"
[00:41:17.520]The students can learn from us and we can learn
[00:41:19.260]from the students with some really
[00:41:21.090]cheap resources on projects.
[00:41:24.990]Good. Yeah.
[00:41:28.560]I guess just for the sake of time,
[00:41:30.270]I don't know if there's anything,
[00:41:31.230]are there any questions just burning from the audience
[00:41:34.410]that you would love to ask this group
[00:41:36.930]before we thank them and wrap up?
[00:41:43.110]I apologize, the ice cream has left the building so...
[00:41:49.320]All right, I think I'll ask one last question then.
[00:41:56.730]You know, one of the things that is not necessarily a,
[00:42:01.320]maybe, I don't know if you call it a challenge
[00:42:02.850]or an opportunity for us at the FPC.
[00:42:03.863]I mean, we were founded 40 years ago
[00:42:07.230]to add value to agriculture in the State of Nebraska.
[00:42:12.690]And I think what we've found,
[00:42:14.070]at least in my experience here is that
[00:42:17.400]the state border is too small
[00:42:20.490]for some of the things we do and it's probably
[00:42:23.460]right size for some other things we do,
[00:42:25.020]but our reach really has become, you know,
[00:42:27.900]well beyond the state border.
[00:42:30.780]It's really well beyond the US borders.
[00:42:32.700]We have clients from all over the world,
[00:42:34.992]but I think we still want to maintain a relationship
[00:42:40.121]to the people of Nebraska making sure that
[00:42:42.390]we're staying relevant to them.
[00:42:44.280]I think that's one of the reasons why I appreciate Jessi
[00:42:47.186]being the chair of our board.
[00:42:48.985]We appreciate that connection to rural Nebraska.
[00:42:53.237]If you allow me to call Hastings rural,
[00:42:56.603]I mean, I think we appreciate that connection
[00:42:59.070]and that voice from there.
[00:43:02.160]But, you know, are there any thoughts
[00:43:05.730]on making sure we keep that as a part of our mission
[00:43:08.970]or do we just allow the world to come to us
[00:43:12.947]and not worry so much about that?
[00:43:18.840]And I realize you're just four voices,
[00:43:20.700]but you know, well I'd love to hear your thoughts.
[00:43:23.550]Well, I think that's the big untapped potential
[00:43:28.196]for the Food Processing Center.
[00:43:32.250]Some years ago, we partnered with a group
[00:43:36.060]that I'm not sure still exists within the university system,
[00:43:39.936]the Center for Applied Rural Innovation.
[00:43:42.600]I'm looking at Ron Yoder in the back.
[00:43:44.220]Do they still exist?
[00:43:46.440]You don't know.
[00:43:47.640]Okay, well then I don't know either.
[00:43:49.740]Well, but they were rural sociologists,
[00:43:54.060]and we had a three year grant
[00:43:56.220]from the US Department of Agriculture for $2 million.
[00:44:00.212]And the whole idea was to find niche opportunities
[00:44:04.320]for rural communities in the Midwest.
[00:44:07.440]It wasn't just Nebraska.
[00:44:09.900]So at that time, we had a market research group
[00:44:13.710]that doesn't exist anymore in the Food Processing Center.
[00:44:17.130]So we said, okay, go out there
[00:44:19.020]and identify some of those niches.
[00:44:21.900]Well, I remember one of them that appealed to me
[00:44:25.050]because I like to drink beer and that was malting.
[00:44:30.060]So everybody knows about all the brew pubs across America
[00:44:34.024]and around the world.
[00:44:35.850]There's many of them.
[00:44:38.400]Well, the malt houses in the United States
[00:44:42.360]only make traditional malts
[00:44:44.220]for companies like Anheuser-Busch and Coors
[00:44:48.882]and InBev and others.
[00:44:52.920]They don't make specialty malts.
[00:44:54.750]So all these companies that have brew pubs
[00:44:59.160]import the specialty malts from Europe at fantastic prices.
[00:45:05.910]Nebraska, I'm told by agronomists,
[00:45:07.680]can grow barley and we can make malt.
[00:45:12.210]But malt's really a science and an art.
[00:45:15.570]I don't think any of our professors know how to make malt.
[00:45:19.410]I know what I like when I drink it,
[00:45:21.060]but I don't know how to make it.
[00:45:24.000]And so the niche exists, the opportunity exists,
[00:45:28.320]the investment would be enormous
[00:45:30.587]for some community, building a malthouse is not cheap.
[00:45:35.850]So how do you, you can identify these market opportunities.
[00:45:41.490]I was talking to Dave Vetter over here,
[00:45:43.375]from Grain Place Foods, one of our early clients,
[00:45:48.060]and he told me every time I talk to somebody,
[00:45:50.370]I find another opportunity.
[00:45:52.020]He said, "We need to buy a new colors order.
[00:45:54.900]It costs $340,000."
[00:45:57.360]And they require more grain to go through them than we make.
[00:46:01.770]So they don't work for us and nobody makes smaller ones.
[00:46:06.690]Well, there's a business opportunity,
[00:46:09.150]probably not inexpensive either,
[00:46:11.469]but I think you'd have business
[00:46:14.670]if you knew what you were doing and got it started.
[00:46:18.060]Can we put that together?
[00:46:19.860]The University can't by itself,
[00:46:21.840]that would take community involvement,
[00:46:23.370]that would take financing.
[00:46:24.955]That's the part that I never got off the ground,
[00:46:28.830]but I know the opportunities are out there.
[00:46:32.400]They're not hard to find.
[00:46:34.200]Very interesting. Good.
[00:46:35.130]Yeah, thank you.
[00:46:36.000]And I mean, Tess, I look at you and I think,
[00:46:38.220]you know, you came back to Nebraska to start your business.
[00:46:41.400]I mean and I think those of us
[00:46:44.790]at the Food Processing Center,
[00:46:45.623]you know, we want your business to be a massive success.
[00:46:50.100]I mean, is there, was there anything more motivating
[00:46:53.880]for you to come back to Nebraska other than
[00:46:55.530]just maybe family and personal choices?
[00:46:58.110]Or was it, you know, is there something
[00:46:59.970]that the Food Processing Center can try to be helpful
[00:47:03.427]to someone in your shoes in the future?
[00:47:06.240]You know, you've already maybe accomplished
[00:47:08.700]what you need to do to get off the ground,
[00:47:09.990]but what about the next person in your shoes?
[00:47:13.110]Yeah, I think the resources here in Nebraska
[00:47:15.036]were encouraging in coming back.
[00:47:17.910]I was coming back anyway, my family's here,
[00:47:19.680]but knowing that the Food Processing Center is here
[00:47:22.140]and I had experience with it,
[00:47:23.370]I knew that there were opportunities
[00:47:25.424]and like that what, you know, Steve said of approaching
[00:47:30.755]the niche markets.
[00:47:32.670]This is a bit self-serving as a newly rhubarb farmer
[00:47:36.891]that there are a lot of opportunities across the state
[00:47:40.020]and just in the Midwest of areas that could be approached.
[00:47:43.620]And I see from what I'm doing right now
[00:47:46.020]in Norma's fruit snacks, where we're, you know,
[00:47:48.810]transforming local produce
[00:47:51.750]as much as we can into finished product.
[00:47:54.357]And that value add, I mean,
[00:47:55.740]we have A+ Berry as well of looking
[00:47:58.050]at what these niche markets can be.
[00:48:00.750]I think that there is huge opportunity there.
[00:48:02.730]And also in just farmland across the Midwest
[00:48:07.260]of talking about how diversity in, you know,
[00:48:11.460]improving diversity in crops, like,
[00:48:13.860]has a lot of value and value all the way through the chain
[00:48:17.580]of saying like, yeah, you can be a rhubarb farmer,
[00:48:19.860]which if anyone wants to be a rhubarb farmer,
[00:48:21.510]I do need rhubarb.
[00:48:23.790]You can do that.
[00:48:24.660]And then it transforms all the way
[00:48:25.950]to those finished products.
[00:48:26.850]So there's a sense of pride
[00:48:28.814]that goes all the way through it,
[00:48:30.720]but I think that there's a lot of value too
[00:48:33.630]for multiple players along that chain
[00:48:37.154]that I think Nebraska could really like help out a lot with.
[00:48:42.930]That's good.
[00:48:45.180]Well, just, I want to thank everyone for joining us today.
[00:48:48.810]I want to thank the panelists for your time to be here.
[00:48:52.320]We had, you know, several of them make,
[00:48:54.390]you know, long journeys to join us
[00:48:57.330]and appreciate the insights you've given us,
[00:48:59.850]the thoughtfulness and thank you all
[00:49:02.245]that we're able to participate
[00:49:04.193]and for making the Food Processing Center what it is today.
[00:49:07.830]We look forward to our next, you know, 40 years
[00:49:11.700]we'll see well, you know,
[00:49:12.780]maybe the next decade we'll have another big celebration.
[00:49:15.990]But I thank you all for being here.
[00:49:17.970]There are ice cream scoops on the table.
[00:49:20.910]Take as many as you can carry with you
[00:49:23.280]and enjoy that as a little memento of the occasion.
[00:49:27.900]So with that, I'm gonna allow you to continue to socialize.
[00:49:32.490]I think there's still more food available
[00:49:34.290]and we will adjourn.
[00:49:37.260]So thank you all.
[00:49:38.570]Thank you Terry.
[00:49:39.403](audience applauding)
[00:49:43.445](pleasant music)

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FPC 40th Anniversary Panel

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