You are invited to attend the 2023 Jefferson County Agricultural Development Luncheon. 

"Preparing For The Future:
Building and Sustaining our Agricultural Workforce."

Friday March 31, 2022
Hilton Garden Inn, Watertown NY
10:00am Networking Time
10:30 Panel Presentations
12:00pm free lunch for all registered participants
 
The purpose of our program is to explore the changes occurring in our workforce and discuss how to move our businesses into the mid – 21st century.

Join our panel of speakers for an interactive discussion of what’s happening to our workforce and how to meet the challenges and opportunities facing agriculture.
 
Our speakers include:

Cheryl A Mayforth, Executive Director of the Jefferson - Lewis Workforce Development Board

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Cheryl will share her perspectives on what happened to our workforce since the pandemic started and what we might expect in the next several years. She'll also discuss programs to prepare our youth to enter the workforce and keep them in our region.

 

Cheryl Mayforth is the Executive Director of the Jefferson-Lewis Workforce Development Board.  She currently serves on the Partners in Education Committee at SUNY Jefferson, The Recruiting and Retention committee for Fort Drum Regional Healthcare Planning Organization, on the boards of Jefferson County Community Action Planning Council and CREDO. She serves on  the Jefferson County Community Economic Development Strategy committee, the writing Captain of the Workforce workgroup of the North Country Regional Economic Development Council and the North Country STEM Network and the Bridges out of Poverty steering committee. She is also active in her community.  She holds a bachelor degree from Cornerstone University, Grand Rapids, MI and a Master’s Degree in Education from Nazareth College, Rochester, NY. She resides with her husband in Clayton, New York.   They have one daughter, a son-in-law and the most perfect grandson.

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Martha Leyburn, Vice President Operations, Fluid/Culture/DSD/Ice Cream - HP Hood LLC

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Martha will share her observations and work on sustaining and growing the workforce of HP Hood LLC. HP Hood is one of the largest food manufacturers in the United States and operates the cultured dairy plant on LaFargeville NY.

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Martha Leyburn started her career in R&D and spent 10 years studying dairy science research and doing product development for the largest dairy company in Canada, Ault Foods.  In 1996 she moved over to quality assurance at the only Nestle Ice Cream plant.  In 2000 Martha moved to Bakersfield, CA and be a part of the joint venture company formed between Haagen Dazs and Nestle as a Corporate QA Manager.  The largest part of her career was at Friendly’s in Massachusetts where she transitioned through several jobs from QA Manager, Engineering, and finally leaving 2018 as VP Operations after Dean Foods purchased the company.  Martha began her HP Hood career as Operations Director for the Culture Division with plants in Arkport, LaFargeville and Vernon, NY.  Her current role at HP Hood is the VP Operations for Fluid, Ice Cream, DSD and Culture Division with 8 plants located in both New York and New England.  In addition to her career Martha has an B.Sc., MBA and a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership. She resides in Monson, MA.

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David Freund, Chief Leadership Officer, The Manufacturers Association & The Manufacturers Alliance of New York State.

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David will speak about the power of employee engagement and the impact that has on retaining and recruiting your workforce.

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David Freund has spent over 35 working his way through various jobs in manufacturing, the last 12 as president of a precision machining facility. He has worked in a variety of markets, from fiber-optic illumination systems, airport runway lighting, injection molding, and precision machining. During this time, David developed strategic plans to grow the businesses, oversaw the relocation of facilities, implemented ISO 9001 quality systems, developed employee appraisal systems, evaluated employee skill levels, and subsequently developed and taught training programs to improve skill levels. He also served on several nonprofit and for-profit boards. In 1995 he began training for the Manufacturers Association of Central New York (MACNY), teaching courses in Leadership, Supervision, and DISC Behavioral studies.

 

David became acquainted with John Maxwell when a friend gave him an autographed copy of John’s book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. After receiving the book and becoming more acquainted with John Maxwell, David found himself drawn to the idea that management is transactional, but leadership is transformational. The teaching resonated so much with him the next logical step was to become a Maxwell Leadership Certified Coach, Trainer, and Speaker.

 

In 2016, David joined MACNY as Chief Leadership Officer. In this position, David oversees all training activities and makes John Maxwell’s proven leadership methods available to MACNY’s 300+ member companies. In 2017 with the help of an esteemed colleague, David started The Next Page Podcast, which offers weekly tips on leadership, growth, and transformation. 

 

As a Maxwell Leadership Certified Coach, Trainer and Speaker, David offers workshops, seminars, keynote speaking, and executive coaching, supporting personal and professional growth throughout Central New York and beyond.

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If you cannot attend in person, you may watch the livestream which begins at 10:30am on March 31 by clicking the link below.

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