A group of area community members turned to the roots of agriculture to build leadership skills and help feed hungry families.
The Leadership Tech Valley Class of 2014 formally unveiled its project Thursday, June 12, which included installing a high tunnel greenhouse and modern drip irrigation system at the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York’s Patroon Land Farm in the Town of Knox. Class members raised $50,000 from sponsors, along with building the greenhouse and irrigation system. Patroon Farm’s growing season will be extended thanks to the effort.
“Three and a half weeks ago, this was a field, and look at it today. It’s absolutely amazing,” said class member Chris Trant, of MVP Health Care, said. “We put in over 1,000 hours collectively.”
Regional President of M&T Bank Michael Keegan, the program’s major sponsor, said the project would benefit the community “for years to come.”
The leadership program is a shared initiative of the Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber of Schenectady County. The two chambers combined their leadership programs in 2006 to form it.
“I am very proud of this year’s class and what the group has accomplished,” said Mark Eagan, president and CEO of the Albany-Colonie Chamber. “It has been exciting to watch the class members come together and successfully complete a project that will leave a lasting, positive impact on the neediest members of our community.”
Leadership Tech Valley seeks to unite a diverse group of people to develop their leadership potential and better serve their organization. Participants are selected from a group of applicants, who then attend an opening two-day retreat and complete nine sessions from October through June.
Each year, class members select a new community outreach project. Justin Priddle, vice president at Berkshire Bank, said fellow class members wanted a project that could sustain itself and provide long-term benefits, while giving back to community.
“Year after year, this greenhouse is going to grow food and sustain food for the community as a whole,” Priddle said. “To come together and put something up like this was just an incredible experience.”
Trant said he learned “a great deal” through the project and farm manager Mark Weinheimer’s strong work ethic inspired him.
He added Weinheimer’s “immeasurable patience” was also helpful, which made many audience members laugh.
“He would be … showing us how to use these tools, and we’d be holding them backwards and upside down,” Trant said. “I learned a lot from you, Mark, and you’ve got a great sense of humor.”
The class also had funds left over from the project, so a check for $8,000 was presented to Weinheimer to help maintain the greenhouse and sustain the project.
Weinheimer said his hard work is mostly due to the influence of Pauline Williman, who placed her family’s 162-acre farm into a protected land trust in 1997.
Williman managed the farm herself from 2001 to 2005, and Regional Food Bank volunteers would harvest the crops and transport produce to its warehouse for distribution. In 2006, the food bank and Patroon Farm became partners, with the food bank taking over management.
There have been several improvements and additions since the food bank took over managing the farm. The new greenhouse will help the farm counteract the heavy soils and plant produce not fairing well outdoors.
“It also gives us an opportunity to make better use of our volunteers,” Weinheimer said. “On miserable days, they don’t want to be out in the fields; although we do have a number of them who are stalwart, and you can’t stop them.”
Weinheimer said being chosen for the class’ project was an honor, and he was “absolutely overwhelmed at the kind of dedication and drive that everybody showed to get this job done.”
Most of the produce grown goes to the food bank, but it also operates a Community Supported Agriculture program to generate revenue to help offset operation costs. Farm yield varies annually, Weinheimer said, but its best year had around 170,000 pounds of produce.
During the warm-weather growing seasons, the farm produces tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumber, summer squash and similar produce, according to Weinheimer. In the fall, the farm transitions to leafy greens, with maybe some hearty greens in the winter.