Agribusiness is big business in West Michigan and the state. In fact, West Michigan produces one-third of the state’s total agricultural sales. In 2012, Kent County alone contributed over 231-million dollars of agricultural products sold from Michigan. With that in mind, The Kent County Board of Commissioners last week adopted the final report by the Agribusiness Community Work Group. WGVU explains the report’s impact on West Michigan.
“Being a farm Kid, I grew up on a farm in Nebraska… I know a there’s a lot to agriculture”
That knowledge came in handy on a big project. Jim Saalfeld is the chair of both the Kent County Board of Commissioners and the Agribusiness Community Work Group or ACWG. He says the board has adopted the work group's final report.
“The overall tasks is to understand what agribusiness is in West Michigan, understand what’s being done now and other areas and see if there are other areas where we can help promote further discussion of this…”
Saalfeld says the report demonstrates how important agribusiness is to the West Michigan economy.
“In West Michigan, agribusiness accounts for 26-thousand jobs, so this a major part of our overall economy.”
He also notes the group says collaboration and cooperation will be key. Because that can help the industry through the entire region in areas like roads as well as labor:
“Because labor is such an important element to having a successful agribusiness economy. It even goes to the federal level, because it relates to questions about immigration and how it's handled."
Saalfeld says it will take time, but this report will serve as a guide.
“You know, this isn’t something that’s going to happen in the next two years and then it’s done, I think it’s going to be a footprint for several years to come.”