REGISTER HERE

DATES: May 8th ● May 17th ● May 22nd ● May 31st, 2017
Please confirm your attendance
Connected by CLEDA and funded in part by USDA

1. Introduction to Efficiency and Improving Financial Bottom Lines
An overview of the Technology in Farming Series with engaging resources from the National Center for Appropriate Technology, the ControlledEnvironment Agriculture Center, and more! Your farm or ranch is greater than the sum of its parts, these short courses will look at several farm systems and how they intersect with available technology to support increased profitability, growing/raising food year-round and improved efficiency.
Location: CLEDA offices @ 900 4th Street ● Alexandria LA 71301 ● Suite 300 ● The Classroom (to right of vault)
Date & Time: Monday, May 8th, 2017 ● 3:30 pm to 5:00 pm

2. Irrigation
Using “The Irrigator’s Pocket Guide” as a reference, this workshop will discuss irrigation tips & tricks to keep cost low and soils and plants healthy. Get to know this take-to-the-field guide that demystifies the art of irrigation management, explains everything you need to know about soil moisture and crop water use. Free copy of “The Irrigator’s Pocket Guide” for first 20 pre-registered attendees.
Location: CLEDA offices @ 900 4th Street ● Alexandria LA 71301 ● Suite 300 ● The Vault Meeting Room
Date & Time: Wednesday May 17th, 2017 ● 3:30 – 5:00 pm

3. Row Covers, High Tunnels & Greenhouses
From low-tech to hi-tech: a discussion and exploration of floating row covers, caterpillar tubes, high tunnels, and glazed greenhouses. These tools and technologies can help you control temperatures, water use, pest management, and extend your growing seasons. Join us to explore options and impacts for your operation. Includes a tour and Q & A with Gray-Walk Farm (controlled environmental agriculture operation) owner Jay Pearson.
Location: Gray-Walk Farm ● 90 Harold Miles Rd ● Alexandria, LA 71301
Date & time: Monday, May 22nd, 2017 ● 3:30 – 5:00 pm

4. Equipment for Scaling Up
Choosing the right tool or piece of equipment can be a challenge and can also greatly effect production efficiency and the economic bottom line for the small-scale farmer. Investing in well-designed hand tools or good quality equipment enhances the farmer’s ability to maximize production. Using tractors and implements designed for small-scale intensive crop production can increase crop quality and yields while reducing labor inputs. Join us to see some of the companies that are bringing science and innovation to fields around the nation. Hoss Tools Wheel Hoe Demonstration. Oggun Tractor Demonstration.
Location: Dean Lee Research Station ● 8105 Tom Bowman Dr. ● Alexandria, LA 71302
Date & Time: Wednesday, May 31st, 2017 ● 3:30 pm to 5:30pmTechnol

Register Here

Guest speaker Tance Hughes will share the story of Southern Designs, a business he started in 2008 when he was a senior at Vidalia High School. Hughes would screen print T-shirts in his garage. When orders grew, he moved into a retail unit and then a larger facility in his hometown, eventually transitioning from printing T-shirts to manufacturing decorative, laser-cut metal and wood products. Today, Southern Designs employs 30 people who work out of a 30,000-square-foot facility in Vidalia, exporting products throughout the United States and Canada.

“Rural entrepreneurship can be done. You can be successful in small communities,” he said. “I’m really proud of what we’ve done in a small town like Vidalia.”

Maker Mornings is a quarterly event the Central Louisiana Economic Development Alliance launched in early 2015 to bring local makers together to unlock their creative potential.

The May event culminates “100 Ways of Making,” a campaign to identify and highlight at least 100 makers in Central Louisiana. They will earn a spot on the interactive Central Louisiana Maker Map, which will be unveiled at the Maker Mornings event.

“Central Louisiana’s makers community continues to grow and contribute to our economy,” said CLEDA President Jim Clinton. “The Maker Map gives our makers a chance to shine, while showing the rest of the state and nation some of the great things that Central Louisiana has to offer.”

Maker Mornings is free, but registration is encouraged. “This special Happy Hour time will offer everyone the opportunity to network after work and be inspired a great speaker,” said John Cotton Dean, CLEDA’s Director of Regional Innovation.

Register at cenla.org. For more information about Maker Mornings, contact Dean at 318-441-3424 or by email at jdean@cenla.org. You can also learn more by visiting facebook.com/MakerMornings.

To see products from Southern Designs, visit www.metalunlimited.com and www.southern.design.com.

If the following sounds like you click here to register.

Inspired by the life-story of Pulitzer nominee Clifton Taulbert, Ice House Entrepreneurship is designed to empower participants by exposing them to entrepreneurial thinking while immersing them in entrepreneurial experiences that will enable them to develop and hone entrepreneurial skills.

· How entrepreneurs with limited resources identify, evaluate, validate opportunities in real-world circumstances and start a business with the resources they currently have
· Understand the entrepreneurial mindset – identify specific beliefs and assumptions that drive entrepreneurial behavior
· Understand the basics of bootstrapping – the process that enables entrepreneurs to build client-funded business
· How to connect with local entrepreneurs who can provide critical guidance and support

Target Audience & Course Application

Ice House Entrepreneurship is ideally suited for those who are industrious, energetic, working now and considering starting a small business on the side that they grow it into a life changing opportunity.

Course Highlights: Mindset for Success

Lesson 1 – The Power to Choose: Life is not a lottery. The ability to choose the way we respond to our circumstances is fundamental to an entrepreneurial mindset. Using real-world examples, participants learn to recognize how choices rather than circumstances will ultimately shape our lives.
Lesson 6 – Building Your Brand: Actions speak louder than words. Entrepreneurs are problem solvers and reliability is the key to their success. Using case studies and modern-day examples, participants learn how entrepreneurs transform simple solutions into big opportunities by building a reputation for reliability.
Lesson 8 – The Power of Persistence: Entrepreneurship is not “get rich quick” and expecting it to be easy is a mistake. The “secret” behind every entrepreneur’s success is hard work, perseverance and determination. Participants learn from experience the importance of persistence and the role it plays in every entrepreneur’s success story.

Who are MAKERS?

MAKERS, are people and companies that create things & ideas. MAKERS are: builders, artists, manufacturers, storytellers, chefs, fabricators, restaurateurs, suppliers, thinkers, and doers!

According to AdWeek, the maker movement, is the umbrella term for independent inventors, designers and tinkerers. A convergence of computer hackers and traditional artisans, the niche is established enough to have its own magazine, Make, as well as hands-on Maker Faires that are catnip for DIYers who used to toil in solitude. Makers tap into an American admiration for self-reliance and combine that with open-source learning, contemporary design and powerful personal technology like 3-D printers. The creations, born in cluttered local workshops and bedroom offices, stir the imaginations of consumers numbed by generic, mass-produced, made-in–China merchandise.

CLEDA adds to this concept, the idea that the manufacturers of today are MAKERS – innovating to stay competitive and creating value across the landscape.

Throughout 2017, CLEDA will be highlighting many of the exceptional MAKERS in central Louisiana.

Nominate someone you know, register yourself, and let us tell your story across the state and nation. www.cleda.org/MAKE

Register Here!

CLEDA announced ten (10) $500 scholarships for Central Louisiana residents who want to attend the first session of a new crash course introducing software program design called code[IT].

Learn more at: http://goo.gl/zkJub8