Where do you get the millions of pounds of potatoes a national chip company consumes annually? Someday, maybe right from West Virginia.
As Lindsay Renner-Wood reports for Cumberland Times-News, the seeds for a successful statewide potato growing program were planted Thursday at WVU Potomac State College, and participants are hopeful the idea will take root outside of the state.
The college’s first West Virginia Spud Summit is designed to connect state and local business and agriculture experts with staff from the West Virginia Potato Chip Co., the maker of Mister Bee potato chips.
Interim Potomac State President Chris Gilmer said the idea for the summit stemmed from his time as president of WVU Parkersburg, where he first connected with the company and its president, Mary Anne Ketelsen.
The intent, he said, is to start an in-state potato growing program to supply the state’s sole manufacturer of the crispy snacks with all the spuds they need to make their products.
Source: Cumberland Times-News. Read the full story here
Photo: WVU Potomac State College Interim President Chris Gilmer introduces the order of the day during the college’s first West Virginia Spud Summit on Thursday morning. Credit Lindsay Renner-Wood/Times-News
