Sprouting Farms Board of Directors.

Committed and Passionate

Sprouting Farms Non-profit Corporation Board of Directors is made up of farmers, community members, that are all  committed to the mission of the Sprouting Farms project.

Eric Fitts
Bethlehem Farm

Eric is the Director of Bethlehem Farm (www.bethlehemfarm.net), a small Catholic nonprofit in Clayton, WV, that hosts groups of high school and college volunteers on service-retreats. The mission of Sprouting Farms not only ties directly into the mission of Bethlehem Farm, to transform lives through service with the local community and the teaching of sustainable practices, but is also a personal passion of his.    Eric has 17 years of experience in agriculture and local food systems, 16 of those in West Virginia. As Director of a small nonprofit for the past 10 years, Eric has experience with nonprofit governance, accounting, finances, legal issues, decision-making, strategic planning, fundraising, human resources, and volunteer management and coordination, among other skills. As part of the founding group at Bethlehem Farm, Eric also has experience founding a nonprofit organization and complying with state and federal requirements to incorporate and maintain 501(c)(3) status. He has a Masters in Public Administration with a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from West Virginia University, which afforded him a strong base of knowledge and robust professional network in the region.

Elizabeth Spellman
​Singing Spring Farm

Elizabeth brings organizing, legal, and farming perspectives to her work supporting Appalachian food systems. Formerly the Executive Director of the WV Food & Farm Coalition, Elizabeth is a food policy consultant with the Chesapeake Foodshed Network, based in Maryland, and the Local Environmental Agriculture Project, based in Virginia. She is proud to serve on the Board of Sprouting Farms, WV's first farm incubator, because she believes in the power of farming as a community and the shared ownership that these enterprises support. Elizabeth holds a JD from Vermont Law School and attends Jung Tao School of Classical Chinese Medicine in western North Carolina part-time.

Chris Chanlett

​A few miles from Sprouting Farms Chris Chanlett has been working a small farm for over 40 years. With his wife he raised two daughters, a significant portion of their food and fuel, and a nursery/landscape/ garden center business.  Community resourcefulness remains his purpose.

Heather Hanna
Greenbrier Valley Economic Development Corporation

Heather is the Coordinator of the Greenbrier Valley Local Foods Initiative, a program started by the Greenbrier Valley Economic Development Corporation in 2010 as a means of helping support food-based businesses in and around the Greenbrier Valley. At GVEDC she serves as the office manager and assists with marketing, finances, and many other responsibilities. Prior to coming to work for GVEDC in March of 2016, she owned her own small business in Wellsburg, WV for 12 years. She had a staff of 10 employees and ran a company that grossed over 4 million dollars in sales each year. She also serves as the Greenbrier Valley Grown branding and certification program manager. Heather continues to serve as support for Greenbrier Valley Grown sales and distribution program.

Dave Burhman

Dave Buhrman’s vegetable gardens grew in size from 1972 until 2010.  Catering mostly to the demands of The Greenbrier Hotel chefs from 1983 on, Dave also sold his fresh produce to local grocers and restaurants in and around Greenbrier County.  Never a certified “organic” grower, Dave chose to follow what he believed to be the best and most efficient techniques; plowing down tons of animal and green crop manures to prepare his soil.  Then he transplanted “grower friendly” vegetable varieties (raised from seed in his greenhouses) into raised beds irrigated with drip tape under black plastic mulch. Now retired, Dave hopes to give back some of his knowledge and experience to others interested fresh vegetable production

Richard Rafes
TL Fruits and Vegetables

Richard Rafes is a co-owner of TL Fruits and Vegetables with his wife Tommye Rafes in Caldwell WV. They grow a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables for sale in WV. Richard has extensive experience in higher education leadership positions including Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs at Peru State College, Interim Dean for School of Helath Professions and Education of Utica College, President of West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, President East Central University, and Senior Vice President for Administration of University of North Texas.  He also has experience serving on a variety of commissions including as Chancellor of the Higher Education Policy Commission for West Virginia as well as Director of Grants for new River Community and Technical College. Richard holds a Ph.D in Higher Education Administration from University of North Texas and a J.D. from University of Houston Texas.

Joe Brouse
New River Gorge Regional Development Corporation

Beginning in February of 2015, Joe Brouse joined the regional development team as the Director of Business Retention and Expansion. Joe works to develop and circulate capital, strengthen the resources available to local businesses, and increase the region’s competitiveness for business recruitment. As the NRGRDA region is not centered on a single municipality or location, Joe takes a truly regional approach to allocate resource across traditional borders.  Joe’s primary focus and experience is in lending. Not only has he worked with commercial banks, but also with alternative lenders such as Natural Capital Investment Fund (NCIF). During his time at NCIF, he sharpened his ability to serve triple bottom line businesses with sustainable development lending and investing.  It’s just that local economic development mindset that helps him serve the New River Gorge region of West Virginia with the NRGRDA.

Coming soon!
Title

text

Name
Title

text