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Leadership & Advisory Team
- Shawn Towle-President & CEO
- 1982-1986: US Coast Guard
- 1987: Intern for Congressman Gerry Sikorski
- 1988: President of the Student Senate Anoka-Ramsey Community College
- Selected as the Outstanding Student Leader
- 1989: Legislative Director, Minnesota Community College Student Association (lobbyist)
- 1990: President, Minnesota Student Coalition
- 1994: BA (Political Science), University of Minnesota
- 1995-Current: Publisher of Minnesota’s first digital political magazine, Checks & Balances
- 2023-Current: Founder MOCKS & More, LLC, and principal decision-maker. Mr Towle has the most experience with the Emerald Caviar in a cottage setting. Through his work with Mr Kielkopf, he has learned a great deal on the information needed to participate in the St Paul Farmer’s Market.
- J. Kurt Schreck-Distribution & Product Development Consultant
- 1985-2005: Market Area Developer for Brueggers Bagel Bakery, Mpls/St Paul DMI
- Brought EDI (Electronic Data Interface) to Brueggers Bagels in 1992.
- 2006-2010: Fruit Processing for Pepin Heights Inc Lake City MN
- 2011-2024: At Last Gourmet Foods (Copacking Company and Distributor)
- Pioneer ultra low oxygen retail packaging for extended shelf life.
- Niel Ritchie-Agriculture & Market Penetration Consultant
- 1990-2004: Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP).
- Launch a subsidiary company called Peace Coffee, and served as Board Chair for 10 years.
- 2005: Founded the Main Street Project (MSP)
- Focusing on the intersection of rural community development with small businesses and family farms. MSP’s research helped to advance the use of perennial agriculture (hazelnuts) with free-range poultry production. MSP also helped to establish a model for transitioning mono culture land use (corn on corn rotations) to a profitable perennial system that reduced chemical use and improved surface water quality.
- MSP also worked on innovative finance and ownership systems to help beginning farmers gain access to land. MSP ultimately purchased a farm in Dakota County from retired farmers to conduct research and demonstrate the principles of community ownership and land reclamation.
- Mr Ritchie has been the principal contact for Mr Towle as he has been working on bringing his agricultural ideas to fruit over the last four years
- Paul Omodt-Public Relations and Media Consultant
- 2018-Current: President of Omodt & Associates
- ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA, MBC, SCMP, is a nationally known public relations and communications professional who has managed some of the Midwest’s largest critical issue situations as well as helped build brands and products from consumer packaged goods to professional services.
- 2019: Selected as one of the 500 College of Fellows in the Public Relations Society of America.
- Paul holds a BA and MA from the University of Thomas where he also teaches as an adjunct professor in the undergraduate Emerging Media Department and the Opus College of Business MBA program.
- Past Minnesota Cup Judge and Coach.
- Jim Kielkopf-Product Development, Market Penetration & Resource Management Consultant
- The Johns Hopkins University, BA in Economics, 1990
- University of Minnesota, MS in Applied and Agricultural Economics, 1998
- Hacienda Ítaca, Ecuador, Farmer 1996-present
- AgriBank, Chief Economist, 2007-2011
- Informa Economics, Vice President, 2011-2014
- New School University and Hunter College Center for Puerto Rican Studies, Research Fellow, 2015-2016
- ECDC Group, Vice President of Institutional Research, 2016-2018
- Sakura Hatsumi International Exports, Vice President, 2018-present
- Owner and Founder, Cacao Itaca Craft Chocolate Company. 2021-present