Summit Executive Committee
November 11, 1997 Omni Southpark Hotel Austin, TX

MINUTES

Members Present:
John Abernathy
D.V. Guerra
L.G. Raun
Donnis Baggett
Ed Hiler
John Schneider
Dan Gattis
Roddy Peeples
Jim Stewart

Others Present:
Jim Butler
Bob Merrifield
Jessica Oman
Kayshia Clifton
Karen Neeley

Welcome and Introductions - Donnis Baggett called the meeting to order at 10:05 a.m. He thanked members for making the effort to be at the meeting and participating in the ambitious agenda. Jim Butler also provided welcome comments and referenced the dedication of the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum held the week before. He encouraged everyone to visit the Library.

Minutes from Previous Meeting - The minutes from the previous meeting (see attachment) were reviewed. L.G. Raun moved to accept the minutes. D.V. Guerra seconded the motion and the minutes were approved by unanimous voice vote.

Budget - Butler indicated that the Summit Initiative received $25,000 from Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, and the current balance is approximately $40,000.

Bylaws/SEC Membership Terms - Butler indicated that according to the recently adopted Summit Initiative Bylaws, terms for individual members needed to be determined, and vacancies needed to be filled. Initial discussion focused on vacancies that needed to be filled and industry areas not yet represented. Baggett reported that he had approached Cliff Butler with Pilgrim's Pride but he had declined. He indicated that it was imperative to include the poultry industry in the Summit process. Butler suggested that Dick Creger provide suggested names and proceed from there. Butler reported that individuals with the UT Health Science Center had been invited to serve but no response had been received. Charlotte Watson has agreed to serve but could not be present at the meeting.

Raun said that it was important to include the grocery/retailer sector in the process. Others agreed and added that the restaurant sector could also be included. Peeples indicated that the restaurant industry was important due to the high percentage of households who eat out now. Abernathy said someone in the economic development area should also be included. Stewart raised the question of whether the bylaws should be changed to raise the number of members on the SEC. Members agreed that a larger membership would ensure that a larger number of people would participate. It was decided to fill the current vacancies and reevaluate the number of members and industries represented once all vacancies are filled.

Gattis suggested Bob Onstead of Randall's to be invited. Onstead is also on the San Antonio Livestock Exposition Board of Directors. He also mentioned Drayton McLane. Butler said David Smith, formerly of the Texas Department of Health and now with the Texas Tech Health Science Center, would be an excellent representative of the health sector. Stewart added that someone representing value-added products should be considered as well. Karen Neeley suggested a representative of El Jardin, a company that makes salsa and other products. Another suggestion for value-added was someone from TCBY. Guerra said that water was also a big issue and should be included in SEC representation. In response to this, the suggestions of Susan Hughes or Ted Eubanks were given.

It was decided to ask a representative from HEB and David Smith from the Texas Tech Health Science Center to serve on the SEC. Tunnell said that John Montford would need to be contacted to assist with recruiting Smith. Regarding the water issue, Schneider suggested that the Summit Initiative try to tie in with the hearings/planning committee meetings resulting from Senate Bill 1. Raun said that there are still many questions and possibly not enough information to answer the questions.

Terms for existing SEC members were determined by drawing for the terms. Butler indicated that some members had indicated that they preferred a shorter or longer term when they were surveyed in February. If the drawn term is not suitable, there will be some flexibility as long as there is an equal number of members serving for each term. The results were as follows:

1 year 2 year 3 year
Anne Anderson Donnis Baggett John Anderson
D.V. Guerra Coney Burgess Dan Gattis
Wallace Migura James Herring Cullen Looney
John Schneider Harold Maxwell Wayne Martin
Bob Stallman Roddy Peeples Pierce Miller
James Teer Wayne Showers L.G. Raun
Graddy Tunnell Jim Stewart Charlotte Watson

Fundraising - Bob Merrifield said that he was currently working with Henry Nemcik to identify foundations to solicit for financial support of the Summit Initiative. He said that Nemcik had made a preliminary contact with one foundation, but the Summit Initiative was not at the top of the foundation's agenda. Merrifield will begin making contacts once the list of prospective foundations is compiled and that he may solicit the help of individual SEC members in making the contacts. A $2 million endowment is the goal.

Future Summits - The following possible Summits were discussed:

Banking Summit - Karen Neeley of the Independent Bankers Association presented a presentation on the banking summit (see handout). The target audience will be lenders and regulators and the conference would be one day in length. The preferred location is Dallas because most regulators are located there or could easily fly in. Neeley stressed the importance of involving regulators. The goal of the conference is to help the financial community better understand the climate under which their farm/ranch customers are operating. A possible product would be to have the attendees return to their respective entities and hold seminars of their own ("a train the trainer approach").

Raun said the Texas Agricultural Extension Service should also be involved, as well as representatives from the USDA and address federal government involvement in agricultural lending. Schneider said that inheritance issues also should be addressed as an underlying issue. It was determined that a banking summit would be held in May/June, 1998 in Dallas. A planning committee would be developed to include the following persons: Karen Neeley, Kary Mathis, John Anderson, John Schneider, Pierce Miller, Robert Wood, John Penson, Danny Klinefelter and Gene Nelson. A background publication will be published as well as a post-conference publication. Guerra said it would be important to find out what kinds of financing problems farmers are now having and address these at the conference.

Forestry - Merrifield reviewed the forestry summit handout (see handout). The proposed conference would be 1½ days in length. Summer 1998 will be targeted for the conference, and proposed locations include Nacogdoches, College Station or Del Lago resort at Conroe. SEC members involved in planning are to include Jim Stewart, Donnis Baggett and Harold Maxwell.

Biotechnology/Trade (see handouts) - It was proposed to have a major summit prior to the 1999 International Livestock Congress which would focus on biotechnology and trade. The possibility of also including beef in this activity was discussed, but it was determined that too many other industries would be excluded in this case, and the beef industry would not be given the attention it would need to address the issues. In addition, the support of the beef industry for a beef summit has not yet been determined. Several locations were suggested including the Astrovillage and the museum district. The goal will be to get information out during the ‘98 International Livestock Congress and have the summit the week before the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in 1999 (February 17-8, 1999). Those involved with planning would include Anne Anderson, a representative of the Purebred Alliance, Dan Gattis, D.V. Guerra, John Schneider, and representatives from the banking community and and an economic development entity. A conference call for prospective planners to discuss this activity will be held in December.

Closing Comments - Stewart said that the forestry summit would be a true test of our process due to the contention of the issue. Additionally, the comment was made that we need to ensure that facilitators of the discussion had been trained, and it would be a good idea to involve a professional conflict resolution person in future summits. The SEC will meet again in late January. The meeting was adjourned at 1:25 p.m.