Summit Executive Committee
February 18, 1998 Omni Austin Hotel Austin, TX

MINUTES

Members Present:
John Abernathy
Anne Anderson
John Anderson
Donnis Baggett
Ed Hiler
Harold Maxwell
Pierce Miller
Roddy Peeples
L.G. Raun
John Schneider
Jim Teer
Graddy Tunnell
Charlotte Watson

Others Present:
Jim Butler
Bob Merrifield

Student Participation in Summit Activities - The SEC first discussed the upcoming Summits and concurred that a $75 fee should be charged for both conferences for early registration. Members indicated that students should be more involved in Summit activities and the focus should be in decreasing the registration fee for them. The SEC would like for staff to send a letter to Deans of Ag Consortium colleges/universities inviting student delegates to each conference. The SEC approved to waive the registration fee for 5 students from each university. Students would be asked to write a letter or report on their experience. In order to facilitate networking for students, the SEC will also sponsor a student function during the conference to allow students to interface with Summit leaders. In addition, students would be dispersed evenly among breakout groups and introduced at general sessions to provide recognition.

Membership - The SEC continued past discussion on determining SEC membership and inviting new members. It was decided to invite the following to the SEC: David Branquen, TCBY; David Smith, Texas Tech School of Rural Health; a representative from the poultry industry; Don Cliff, Premium Standard Farms; David Mitchell, Texas Farms; Melissa Finaker and Fully Klingman, both of HEB; Bill Fielding, retired-Cargill; a representative of Randall's; Norm Brinker, representing the restaurant sector; Alex Martin Brennan, representing the Texas Restaurant Board; and the Whataburger Chairman.

Agricultural Biotechnology and International Trade Summit, 1999 - Anne Anderson suggested that Rabobank should be involved in the Biotech/International Summit in 1999. SEC members indicated that staff should contact Rabobank about sponsoring this event.

Email Address List for SEC - Charlotte Watson asked that a list of email addresses for members of the SEC be developed in order to facilitate more communication among members. Those present with email addresses provided their address; the balance of the SEC will be surveyed to determine email addresses, and an updated list will be provided to all.

A&M Science Academy - Jim Butler provided an update on the A&M Science Academy, for which the Summit Initiative has provided financial support. Members would like to see a video or hear from a College Station Independent School District representative during the next SEC meeting.

Ag Finance Summit Conference Report - The program planning committee determined that the audience for the ag finance summit conference should include lenders, trade credit sources, lending customers, regulators, policy makers, accountants and attorneys. The committee's priority goals for the conference included developing a better understanding of the new/increased risk factors faced by agriculture, the unique needs of young beginning producers, and reviewing changes in the lending industry. The committee recommended that proceedings be published and distributed and that student leaders be invited to attend. A tentative agenda was distributed for review, and a conference call will be held in the near future.

Forestry Summit Report - Jim Hull discussed the developments of the committee and commented on the goals set by the Forestry Summit Program Planning Committee. Some of these goals included being all-inclusive with issues relating to forestry, ensuring follow-up activities after the summit, and publishing a pre-summit document that outlined the key issues relating to forestry in Texas. Hull also touched on the logistics discussed by the committee, including moving the summit back to September and extending the number of days for the conference to allow for more group interaction and discussion. To end the presentation, Hull mentioned that the next Forestry PPC meeting will be held on March 4 in College Station. The committee acknowledged the fact that they still have a lot of work to do, but they feel this initial meeting was an overall success.

Next Meeting - The next SEC meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 26, the evening prior to the Ag Finance Summit in Austin.