On the evening of October 10 at the NEDA Meeting
neda.extension.org in Tucson, National 4-H Council in alignment with the ECOP 4-H Leadership Committee, is sponsoring a plated dinner and special keynote speaker. Richard Maltsbarger (pictured left), President & CEO, Pet Valu Holdings Ltd., is a member of the Council Board of Trustees. Since joining Pet Valu in 2018, Richard Maltsbarger and his leadership team have grown Pet Valu into Canada’s leading pet specialty retailer, through the modernization of its omni-channel and loyalty capabilities, development of proprietary real-estate selection processes and deepened investment into expertise, training, and franchise relationships. Prior to joining the company, he held multiple senior positions at Lowe’s Companies over a 14-year tenure, serving most recently as COO for U.S. operations and President of International. He earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in Agricultural Economics from the University of Missouri, earned an MBA from the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis, MO, and is an alumni of Missouri 4-H. Richard served from 2015-2020 on advisory boards to two successive Deans of the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources of the University of Missouri. Richard's entertaining keynote will be based on this year's theme,
Transforming Extension: People, Partners, and the Profession.
Cooperative Extension Receives $11M to Combat Obesity - Sixteen land grant universities will receive first-year CDC awards totaling more than $11 million to help reduce health disparities in US counties with high rates of obesity. Through these awards, Cooperative Extension at these sixteen institutions will work to increase the availability of affordable, healthy foods and safe, convenient places for physical activity. The awards are part of the 5-year, $57M
High Obesity Program (HOP). Most HOP awards are in rural areas where there may be limited access to healthy foods and fewer opportunities to be active. HOP recipients leverage state investments, partnerships, and resources from various sectors, such as agriculture, transportation, education, healthcare, parks and recreation, business, housing, and military. Obesity in the US affects more than 100 million (42%) adults and 14 million (20%) children. Obesity also accounts for approximately $173 billion in annual health care costs. More information about HOP and a list of award recipients can be found
here. For more information, contact
rogerrennekamp@extension.org.
APLU Annual Meeting Registration is Open - While members of the Cooperative Extension Section and ECOP are not scheduled to meet formally, some Extension Leaders will choose to attend the APLU Annual Meeting in Seattle, Nov. 12-14. On Sunday afternoon, Nov. 12, the Board and Agriculture Assembly (BAA) sessions (concurrent with sessions of other APLU Councils and Commissions) include the USDA-NIFA awards ceremony when Extension Awards are presented and the Seaman A. Knapp Memorial Lecture. Most Office of Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resources (FANR) sessions will take place between Noon Sunday, Nov. 12 and the evening of Monday, Nov. 13. The registration link is
