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Securing Grant Funds to Supplement Co-Op Member Capital
Date: Thursday, May 13, 2010
Time: 11:00 AM ET / 10:00 AM CT / 09:00 AM MT / 08:00 AM PT [Prevailing Time]
Presenter(s): Brent Morrison, Managing Principal, Morrison & Company and Kevin Edberg, Executive Director, Cooperative Development Services
Objective: Particpants attending the NSAC-NCBA joint presentation can expect to learn where to go for grant opportunities, the key ingredients of a successful application, and resources that can help your co-op access these funds.
Field of Study: Finance
Program Level: Basic
CPE Credit: 1 Credit Hour

For NCBA registrants to get the NSAC member rate for this webcast, use the designated Promotional Code assigned to this webcast when filling out the registration request on line. See NCBA for details. No advanced preparation or prerequisites are required for this course.

Course Description
This CLN webcast is a joint presentation offering between NSAC and NCBA.

The discussion will provide information and advice on securing grants from government programs and private foundations.

Kevin Edberg and Brent Morrison have helped dozens of cooperatives and other entities win grants from government and foundations. Please join them for an informative and useful session that can help bring new resources to your cooperative.

Presenter Bio(s)
Principal R. Brent Morrison, CPA, has nearly three decades of experience serving processing, manufacturing, agribusiness, distribution, and other companies as an executive and advisor.

His company, Morrison & Company was founded in 2002 to provide specialized consulting services, including feasibility studies and business plans, assistance with business acquisitions and financing transactions, accounting system and internal control design, interim executive engagements and specialized grant writing.

In addition to a full-time staff, the company maintains an extensive network of experienced, dedicated and highly qualified attorneys, market researchers, engineers and other technical disciplines.

Brent was formerly Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Sunsweet Growers Inc., one of the nation's premier producers of juices and dried fruit products. Before joining Sunsweet, he was President of Butte County Rice Growers Association (BUCRA), an agribusiness service and supply company.

While Senior Manager with the “Big Four” accounting firm Deloitte & Touche, Brent helped found and direct the Sacramento office forensic accounting practice, assisting clients with business-related legal issues. He also led the Sacramento office's Food & Consumer Products Industry Group. Brent was previously controller for a manufacturer of heavy equipment and structural steel components. He began his career with a predecessor firm of KPMG.

Brent holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and is a Certified Public Accountant. He is a graduate fellow of the California Agricultural Leadership Program, a two-year educational fellowship hosted by four participating universities. He is a certified Six Sigma “Champion,” the continuous process improvement methodology favored by General Electric and other major manufacturers.

Brent has been a long time member and past President of the Far Western Chapter of the National Society of Accountants for Cooperatives and a past director of the Agricultural Leadership Alumni. He has served with many professional and civic organizations, including an appointment to a state advisory board by then California Secretary of Food & Agriculture (and later USDA Secretary) Ann Veneman. A published writer, Brent wrote "The Brent Morrison Column," which appeared in several western newspapers for over eight years.

Kevin Edberg is the Executive Director of Cooperative Development Services, a 25 year-old non-profit organization created to help with the business planning and development needs of cooperatives in the Upper Midwest. Over the past 10 years, CDS has helped co-ops and producer-owned businesses access over $7 million in state and federal grant funds in the areas of agriculture, renewable energy and community development.

Kevin has been with CDS since October 2000; prior to that he spent 13 years with the Marketing Division of the Minnesota Dept. of Agriculture, the last seven of those years as head of all state marketing programs.

Mary Griffin will be on hand during this CLN to offer expert advice and share a list of resources regarding grant opportunities. Mary is Director of Public Policy for National Cooperative Business Association. She manages the Cooperative Finance and Tax Council (CF&TC), which identifies and addresses finance, tax and legal issues that have cross-sector impact on cooperatives.

She advocates before the US and international financial accounting standards boards for standards that address the cooperative form of business and is helping to coordinate the international cooperative response to the move to global accounting standards.

Griffin also advocates on behalf of cooperatives before Congress and works to secure more funds for cooperative development in the US. Prior to coming to NCBA, Griffin was with Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, where she represented the interests of consumers on various financial services issues. She has also worked as a legal aid attorney and an appellate attorney in the Solicitor’s Office at Department of Labor. Griffin received her law degree from Temple University and her LLM from George Washington University.