Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann addresses the crowd at the Ag/Business Breakfast.

On the morning of Tuesday, March 3, Kosciusko County farmers and business people, along with some students and other members of the community, gathered at Rodeheaver Auditorium in Winona Lake for the inaugural Ag/Business Breakfast.

The event, well-attended despite the cold and icy roads, featured a tasty spread of breakfast food and beverage and a key note speech from Lt. Governor Sue Ellspermann. FFA students from Warsaw, Whitko and Triton schools acted as ushers for the event and led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Introductions were given by Jerry Yeager, board president of the Kosciusko County Community Foundation, and Bob Bishop, Kosciusko County president of the Indiana Farm Bureau – which has more than 500 members in the county. Then Ellspermann took the podium.

“This is a new way of doing things: bringing agriculture and business together,” Ellspermann said. “There’s probably more similarities than differences.”

Indeed, with agriculture becoming big business and the proliferation of digital technology throughout all industries, the lines have definitely burned. Ellspermann referenced her background in manufacturing, noting that she’d witnessed automation revolutionize the industry, and she has since seen it become a big part of the agricultural industry.

“We’re using all the great technology tools,” she said. Ellspermann also noted that access to broadband internet has become essential for almost all industries, including agriculture. After her Listen and Learn Tour of all 92 Hoosier counties in 2013, Ellspermann, along with Secretary of Commerce Victor Smith, initiated the Rural Broadband Working Group, which has been working to identify connectivity issues statewide and solve those issues.

Ellspermann proceeded to talk on transportation and infrastructure. She also discussed Indiana’s workforce.

“Today we only have 34 percent of Hoosiers that have advanced degrees,” she said. “We project that in the next decade 65 percent will need credential two-year or four-year degrees. We know we have to do some things differently. We need to make sure we’re providing the kinds of training that will help our young people be successful.”

Ellspermann lauded Grace College for developing an agribusiness program, and said that the Indiana’s policy makers are working to ensure that Indiana keeps up with the changing technological and business environment.

“We’re committed to tax and regulatory policies, infrastructure and workforce development, that really shows that Indiana is a state that works for agriculture and business,” she said in closing.

Ellspermann was given a commemorative glass plate from Warsaw Cut Glass as a thank you.