Bill Text: NY A07369 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Directs the commissioner of the department of agriculture and markets to establish the Future Agriculture Readiness Marketing Camp to provide farmers with training in marketing and product development.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-03 - referred to agriculture [A07369 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-A07369-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          7369
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                     April 25, 2017
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by M. of A. MAGEE -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Agriculture
        AN ACT authorizing the commissioner of the department of agriculture and
          markets to develop the future agriculture readiness marketing camp
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section  1.  The  commissioner  of  agriculture  and markets is hereby
     2  authorized and directed to develop an agricultural marketing "boot camp"
     3  program in accordance with the requirements prescribed in this act.
     4    § 2. (a) The commissioner of agriculture and markets  is  directed  to
     5  develop  the program in cooperation with an advisory board consisting of
     6  the presidents of: SUNY Morrisville; SUNY Canton; SUNY Cobleskill;  SUNY
     7  Oswego,  and the dean of the college of agriculture and life sciences at
     8  Cornell University.  Though the resources of each institution  shall  be
     9  utilized, the program shall be coordinated by the Small Farms program of
    10  Cornell  University.    Two  representatives, one selected by the senate
    11  majority, and the second by the assembly majority, shall also  serve  on
    12  the program's advisory board.
    13    (b) Members of the advisory board described in subdivision (a) of this
    14  section  shall  not  receive  compensation,  but  shall  be  entitled to
    15  reimbursement for expenses under any  applicable  state  law,  rule,  or
    16  regulation.
    17    § 3. The program shall be no less than one week in length, but no more
    18  than  two  weeks,  and  shall  be at least as academically rigorous as a
    19  200-level-class at any of the institutions in subdivision (a) of section
    20  two of this act. Participants shall have the same access to information,
    21  faculty, staff, and resources as a matriculated student  would  have  at
    22  any  of the institutions named in subdivision (a) of section two of this
    23  act. The program shall consist of one cohort each year, of not more than
    24  thirty students, but not fewer than five students.
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD09433-04-7
        A. 7369                             2
     1    § 4. (a) Prospective participants shall submit an  application,  at  a
     2  time  and  in a manner determined by the participating institutions. The
     3  application shall include a combination of media, and  at  minimum  must
     4  describe:  a  business plan; marketing goals; the product intended to be
     5  sold, and demonstrate that the prospective participant has the necessary
     6  attributes to succeed in the program.  Prospective participants may also
     7  be  required  to  submit  other supplementary documentation as is deemed
     8  necessary by the participating institutions.
     9    (b) Successful applicants shall be required  to  pay  a  fee  covering
    10  room,  board,  and  materials.  This fee shall not exceed $500 per week,
    11  payable to any participating institution that hosts all  or  a  part  of
    12  that year's administration of the program.
    13    §  5.  The  program  will be held on the campus of either SUNY Morris-
    14  ville, SUNY Canton, SUNY Cobleskill, or SUNY Oswego, or any  combination
    15  thereof  as  determined by the participating institutions.  The location
    16  may change from one year to another.
    17    § 6. The program shall teach participants how to: develop their chosen
    18  product; how to identify prospective  consumers;  how  to  market  their
    19  product  to  such  consumers, and how to transport their product to such
    20  consumers. The program may also include any  other  topics  or  cognates
    21  that the participating institutions deem necessary and proper.
    22    § 7. (a) No more than one week after the end of each administration of
    23  the  program,  participating  institutions  shall  review  presentations
    24  prepared by each participant. Presentations shall feature such materials
    25  as the participating institutions may deem  appropriate  to  demonstrate
    26  understanding of the program content, and the further development of the
    27  business  plan and marketing goals contained in the participant's appli-
    28  cation.
    29    (b) Of each cohort, not more than one-third of the participants shall,
    30  based on the presentations described in subdivision (a) of this section,
    31  be selected for a grant of funds. Each individual grant shall not exceed
    32  $10,000.
    33    (c) Each grant shall be issued by the empire state development  corpo-
    34  ration, according to an agreement between it, the department of agricul-
    35  ture and markets, and the office of the state comptroller.
    36    (d)  Each  awardee shall be required to submit periodic reports to the
    37  department of agriculture and markets and the office of the state  comp-
    38  troller.  These  reports  will  allow the monitoring of grant funds, and
    39  should also serve to develop best-practices models that will  be  shared
    40  with  future  participants  in  the program, as well as the students and
    41  faculty of participating institutions.
    42    § 8. The commissioner of agriculture  and  markets  is  instructed  to
    43  ensure  that  the  program  admits  only owners of small to medium sized
    44  farms based on the United States department of agriculture's 2012  agri-
    45  culture  census of New York state, who seek to target non-traditional or
    46  non-commodity markets. Applicants must be domiciled in  New  York  state
    47  and have a principal place of business in this state.
    48    §  9.  The commissioner of agriculture and markets shall be authorized
    49  to provide funds for this program only to the extent that  an  appropri-
    50  ation is available for that specific purpose.
    51    §  10.  This  act  shall  take effect immediately. The commissioner of
    52  agriculture and markets shall induct the first cohort into  the  program
    53  within one year of the effective date of this act.