Indiana Grown hires member development program manager, receives federal grant

Feb 17, 2017 | News

INDIANAPOLIS (Feb. 17, 2017) – The Indiana State Department of Agriculture’s (ISDA) Indiana Grown initiative today announces the hiring of Heather Tallman as Member Development Program Manager. In her new role, Tallman will be responsible for providing member development, project leadership and implementation of multiple strategies to drive economic development and marketing. Additionally, she will handle general statewide outreach, economic development and speaking engagements on topics pertaining to local food development, food hubs and Indiana Grown.

Prior to joining Indiana Grown, Tallman created and founded her own food media company, Kitchen Sink Media, Inc., which helped brands and businesses with content creation, social media, product placement and promotion. Through creating her own food-centric network, she has gained experience in blogging, broadcast appearances and cooking demonstrations as Basilmomma. With a combined following of more than 46,000 readers per month, her knowledge of the food industry has helped her become a prominent figure in the local community and surrounding areas.

I have been a huge supporter of the Indiana Grown initiative from the beginning, and it’s amazing to see how it has come full circle,” said Tallman. “I’m excited to use my 10 years of experience in the local food scene to benefit Indiana Grown and its members.

Additionally, Julie Golliher has joined Indiana Grown under a USDA federal grant and will be supporting specialty crop producers in the northern part of the state. As an Indiana Grown representative, Golliher will be providing members with educational resources, information about the initiative and the many benefits of being a member. Prior to working with Indiana Grown, Golliher co-managed her family farm in Cambridge City. She credits Indiana Grown as being a key catalyst in supporting her farm’s operations and providing networking opportunities. Golliher is also a physical therapist at Henry County Hospital.

Along with Golliher, Jen Desormier has also joined Indiana Grown under the same USDA federal grant. As an Indiana Grown representative, she will aid members in the southern part of the state by providing educational resources and sharing information about the initiative with potential members. Desormier’s background includes sales and customer relationship management. As a productive, energetic and reliable team player, Desormier brings more than 10 years of experience in business-to-business sales.

We are proud of Indiana Grown’s continuous growth over the past year and half,” said Ted McKinney, ISDA Director. “It’s wonderful to see our team growing and it speaks volumes on how successful the initiative has been. With the addition of Heather, Julie and Jen, our local producers will have even more statewide and local support from Indiana Grown.

Since its launch in July 2015, the initiative has grown to more than 650 members statewide, including roughly 40 business partners consisting of distributors, farmers markets and retailers, such as Marsh, Kroger and Market District. Indiana Grown hopes to continue to generate additional consumer awareness in retail locations using storewide marketing materials and regional events and is expected to fill the southern Indiana Grown representative under the USDA federal grant soon.

Click the “about” section at the top of this page for more information about Indiana Grown, or click the “join” tab if you would like to join our Indiana Grown community.

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