CVGGA is a not-for-profit association & business network of regional greenhouse growers committed to sustaining and growing the local economy and restoring Northeast Ohio to pre-eminence as the “Greenhouse Capital of America.” Through a collaborative process of collective sharing resources and knowledge, members help identify solutions to commonly shared technical and business problems.Resources/Links
National Greenhouse Manufacturers Association (NGMA)
The National Greenhouse Manufacturers Association (NGMA) is a professional trade organization for the manufacturers and suppliers of greenhouses and greenhouse components.
Progressive Gardening Trade Association (PGTA)
The PGTA is the forum that brings together progressive gardening ideas, techniques, people and products and promotes them to the gardening community. The PGTA is an international organization of retailers and related businesses bringing earth-friendly, water-wise and organic products and practices to the gardening community.
Produce Marketing Association
Great Lakes Herb Business Association
Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers
Leamington, Ontario, Canada—‘Greenhouse Capital of North America’
Redcliff, Alberta, Canada—‘Greenhouse Capital of the Prairies’
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC)
The NSAC is a national alliance of farm, rural development, and conservation groups that organized in 1988 to affect federal agriculture policy. NSAC member groups advance common positions to support small and mid-size family farms, protect natural resources, promote healthy rural communities, and provide nutritious and healthy food to consumers.
Sustainable Agriculture Network
SAN is the communications and outreach arm of the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program. SARE is a U.S. Department of Agriculture-funded initiative that sponsors competitive grants for sustainable agriculture research and education in a regional process nationwide. SAN is dedicated to the exchange of scientific and practical information on sustainable agriculture systems using a variety of printed and electronic communications tools.
Ohio
Ohio Department of Agriculture
Food Policy Council
Ohio Proud
Ohio Proud is the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s marketing program that identifies and promotes food and agricultural products made and grown in Ohio.
Ohio Produce Growers & Marketers Association (OPGMA)
OPGMA is an organization of produce growers and marketers whose goal is to produce exceptional quality crops, for consumers and processors, utilizing environmentally friendly practices. OPGMA provides educational opportunities to businesses, families, and employees associated with the production and marketing of Ohio’s fresh produce.
Ohio Department of Development
Working with communities and businesses, the Department of Development promotes economic opportunities to improve the profits and prosperity of Ohio’s citizens. The Department acting in a support role provides financial, informational and technical assistance to those making an investment in Ohio’s future.
Green Energy Ohio (GEO)
Green Energy Ohio (GEO) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting environmentally and economically sustainable energy policies and practices in Ohio. GEO promotes renewable energy (solar, wind, biomass & low-impact hydro) statewide by acting as a clearinghouse to inform Ohioans on sustainable energy.
Greater Ohio
Greater Ohio is a citizens’ network promoting — through research, public education and grassroots advocacy — public policy to grow our economy and improve the quality of life through intelligent land use. To this end, Greater Ohio will work to promote redevelopment of existing communities, strengthen regional cooperation and protect the countryside and Ohio’s natural resources.
Maumee Valley Growers Association
The Ohio Ecological Food & Farm Association (OEFFA)
OEFFA, Columbus, Ohio, is a grassroots coalition of food producers and consumers formed in 1979 to support and promote a healthful, ecological, accountable and permanent agriculture in Ohio and elsewhere. A membership-based, grassroots organization, OEFFA is dedicated to promoting and supporting sustainable and healthful food systems.
The Ohio Herb Education Center – Gahanna ‘Herb Capital of Ohio’
Based in Gahanna, Ohio, the Ohio Herb Education Center supports the many uses of herbs and the sharing of information about herbs. Through its mission of education, the Center offers informative classes, workshops, publications and products featuring the use of herbs for, but not limited to, culinary, decorative, garden, medicinal and home applications. Gahanna was declared the “Herb Capital of Ohio” by the state legislature in 1972. Jane Geroux spearheaded the effort and later founded the Ohio Herb Education Center. In celebration of this great distinction, The Gahanna Municipal Herb Gardens were installed next to City Hall in 1975 and officially dedicated and named the Geroux Herb Gardens in 2002. This one acre garden features several themed areas including biblical, scented, meditative, medicinal and culinary gardens.
Innovative Farmers of Ohio
The Innovative Farmers of Ohio (IFO), Toledo, Ohio, is a farmer-led, non-profit organization serving Ohio farmers. IFO leadership and board of directors are active Ohio farmers and the organization offers services and programs that help producers become more sustainable economically, socially, and environmentally. IFO’s mission drives its service offerings and guides the group in partnering with other organizations dedicated to improving farming and rural life.
Reduced Rate Loans for Ohio Farmers
This program allows Ohio farmers to receive loans at reduced interest rates through their local banks or farm credit agencies in order to offset the high cost of borrowing operating funds. It is one of the few ways that the state makes aid directly available to farmers, who can save up to $4,000 a year with the interest-rate reduction. In order to qualify for an Agricultural Linked Deposit, farms must be for-profit with their headquarters and more than half of their operations maintained in Ohio. Additionally, the farm must have a documented need for the reduced interest rate and may request the reduction for up to the first $100,000 of a loan.
Ohio State University
Ohio State University Extension Center at Wooster
College of Food, Agricultural & Environmental Sciences
Ohio State Agricultural Technical Institute (ATI)
Greenhouse Production and Management
OARDC (The Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center)
The Hydroponic Vegetable Program
OSU Agroecosystems Management Program
Local Food Systems — OARDC social networking website about working together on the distribution infrastructure for local Ohio food systems.
VegNet – OSU Extension Vegetable Crops
Ohio State University Extension Agricultural Business Enhancement (ABE) Center
Commercial Horticulture Program
Northeast Ohio
Cleveland Cultural Gardens & Rockefeller Park Greenhouse
Cleveland’s Rockefeller Park Greenhouse is a luscious display of more than 150 acres of display gardens and flora from all over the world. From flowers to trees, exotic fruits to trickling streams, Rockefeller Park Greenhouse is a great place to relax and take in mother nature’s beauty. Built in 1905, the greenhouse features thousands of plants native to other parts of the world. The warm temperature inside the facility promotes the growth of a variety of breathtaking tropical plants: from banana trees to pineapple plants and wild orchids in every imaginable color. Outside, more show gardens are accessible by a cobblestone pathway that winds through the lush greenery. A Japanese Zen garden, Latin-American garden, Peace garden and orchid showcase are all part of this wonderful local greenhouse. Be sure to stop by in December, when the greenhouse hosts its annual poinsettia show — where thousands of the festive flowers are on display along with other popular holiday plants. Majestic fountains and flowers in a rainbow of colors make Rockefeller Park Greenhouse one of Cleveland’s most popular places for wedding ceremonies.
Eleanor Armstrong Smith Glasshouse/Cleveland Botanical Garden
The Eleanor Armstrong Smith Glasshouse at the Cleveland Botanical Garden is an 18,000-square-foot conservatory — a totally unique experience that immerses visitors in a simulation of the spiny desert of Madagascar and the butterfly-filled rainforest of Costa Rica. Built in 2003 an dfeaturing more than 350 species of exotic plants and more than 50 species of butterflies, insects, birds, reptiles and amphibians, the conservatory also shows how plants, animals, geology and climate interact in delicate balance.
Advance Northeast Ohio Partners
A group focused on building the Northeast Ohio local and regional economy based on local and regional food systems, renewable energy, distributed manufacturing, enhancing natural capital in the region and sustainable use of the region’s resources.
Cuyahoga Valley Initiative (CVI)
The Cuyahoga County Planning Commission and its many partners and collaborators embarked on a historic effort to transform the Valley, whose image reflects its industrial past.
Cuyahoga Valley Countryside Conservancy
Goals:
To lease farm properties in Cuyahoga Valley National Park
To conduct sustainable agriculture enterprises thereon
To help reestablish a working agricultural landscape in CVNP
To help preserve and protect for public use and enjoyment, the historic, scenic, natural, and recreational values of the Cuyahoga River, and adjacent lands of the Cuyahoga Valley.
Crown Point Ecology Center
Crown Point Ecology Center, Bath, Ohio, is a biologically diverse living laboratory that serves to demonstrate practical applications of ecology. The 130-acre Crown Point farmland is a regional model for sustainable agriculture and environmental education.
The New Agrarian Center (NAC)
A 501(c)3 organization, Oberlin, Ohio, focused on growing a sustainable local food system in Northeast Ohio.
City Fresh is a nonprofit program of the New Agrarian Center (NAC) that seeks to build a more just and sustainable local food system in Northeast Ohio. City Fresh is a program of the New Agrarian Center. The goal of City Fresh is to build a more just and sustainable local food system in Northeast Ohio. City Fresh seeks to meet the needs of both urban and rural communities by improving access to fresh locally grown food for urban residents and marketing opportunities in the city for local farmers. The City Fresh program impacts the local food system through the development of neighorhood food centers, nutrition education, urban market garden training, and the cultivation of direct farm to business connections. City Fresh includes a wide range of community partners, including the City of Cleveland Health Department, Heifer International, Ohio Farmers Union, the Great Lakes Brewing Company, the Clark-Metro Community Development Corporation, the Urban Community School, and the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission. City Fresh’s “Fresh Stop” program offers a way for neighbors to easily connect with food that is locally grown by farmers within the city and in the countryside. In the process, buyers meet other neighbors, interact with children, learn important facts and tips about nutrition, sample locally grown food, and share in fun events, including music or potlucks. All food available at a Fresh Stop is picked-up directly from participating farmers and brought to local neighborhoods. Fresh Stops offer weekly “share bags” which include a mix of produce available from local farmers.
Center for Farmland Preservation in Northeast Ohio
The Center for Farmland Preservation in Northeast Ohio, based in Peninsula, Ohio, was founded in 2000 as a project of the Western Reserve RC&D council, a non-profit conservation organization working to conserve natural resources and foster sustainable economic and community development in the nine-county region of Northeast Ohio. The Mission of the Center is “Conserving agricultural lands of the Western Reserve RC&D region and promoting agriculture as a vital part of the Northeast Ohio economy.” The counties of the Western Reserve RC&D include: Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage, Summit & Wayne.
Northeast Ohio Regional Leadership Taskforce
Northeast Ohio Trade & Economic Consortium (NEOTEC)
The Northeast Ohio Research Consortium (NEORC)
The Northeast Ohio Research Consortium (NEORC) was formed in 1979 to provide research and technical assistance to the Northeast Ohio region. The NEORC, a component of the Ohio Urban University Program (UUP), is a cooperative initiative of northeast Ohio’s Public Universities: The University of Akron, Cleveland State University, Kent State University and Youngstown State University.
The Northeast Ohio Incubator Collaborative (NEOinc)
Provides coordinated services to entrepreneurs desiring to start technology-oriented businesses in the 21 counties of NE Ohio.
Fund for our Economic Future
The Fund for Our Economic Future is a multi-year collaboration of organized philanthropy in Northeast Ohio, formed to encourage and advance a common and highly focused regional economic development agenda that can lead to long-term economic transformation in ways that recognize the importance of core cities, inclusion/diversity, and quality of life. This will be accomplished by convening key stakeholders, tracking overall regional progress, and backing key initiatives. The foundations that make up The Fund represent ten Northeast Ohio counties: Ashland, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage, Stark, Summit and Wayne.
Team NEO
Team NEO is a private sector-led, regional economic development organization formed through the collaboration of many of the region’s leading business organizations to support and stimulate higher levels of targeted business attraction, retention and expansion in Northeast Ohio.
JumpStart
JumpStart is a business development organization that identifies and invests in early-stage companies that have strong potential in the marketplace, solid prospects for high growth, and are likely to qualify for later-stage funding. Beyond investing, the JumpStart team provides a continuum of business development services to its client companies to help ensure their success.
Entrepreneurs for Sustainability
Building a Sustainable Economy in Northeast Ohio
Cleveland Green Building Coalition
The Cleveland Green Building Coalition is a nonprofit organization created to inform civic, business and building industry leaders as well as the general public about the economic, health and aesthetic benefits of green building
The GreenCityBlueLake Institute
The GreenCityBlueLake Institute is the sustainability center of The Cleveland Museum of Natural History. The Institute was formed out of the 2007 merger of the Museum and EcoCity Cleveland, one of Northeast Ohio’s leading environmental organizations.