Food industry roundtable set for Calverton Business Incubator Friday

East End state legislators Ken LaValle and Fred Thiele are hosting a roundtable discussion on food-industry related topics at the Calverton Business Incubator Friday morning, Senator LaValle (R-Port Jefferson) announced.

The Senator said the following topics will be discussed:

• The impact of locally grown/artisanal foods on the local economy.

• Changes to New York State funding outlets — now done on a competitive, regional basis.

• State government has been successful in supporting the establishment of the necessary infrastructure to support the local agriculture/food industry (e.g. funding for cold storage facility, funding for establishment of small scale, shared-use food-processing facilities at Calverton, funding for farmland preservation) to allow the creativity, determination, and ambition of entrepreneurs to thrive. Determine other infrastructure needs and how to achieve those needs.

• How as a region can we work together to establish/support the food industry on Long Island as an economic cluster (to join IT, biotech, and energy) and overcome challenges/obstacles and allow it to flourish.

The Long island Farm Bureau, Long Island Wine Council, Peconic Land Trust and many other local businesses and non-profits are expected to participate.

The event will take place at 10 a.m. Click here for directions to the incubator.