Poole College’s Supply Chain MBAs put a new twist on the concept of ‘foodie’
The NC Growing Together (NCGT) project and NC State’s Poole College of Management Supply Chain Resource Cooperative (SCRC) have partnered to offer the country’s first local foods-focused business school supply chain fellowships to Jessica Newsome and Sebastian Naskaris, MBA students in Poole College’s Jenkins Graduate School.
Naskaris is a first-year MBA student who previously spent two years with NC FoodCorps, and Newsome is a second-year MBA student who previously had an internship at Lowes Home Improvement headquarters in Mooresville, NC.
The NC Growing Together project – an initiative in NC State’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences – aims to bring more locally-produced meat, dairy, seafood, and produce into the state’s mainstream retail and food service supply chains. SCRC is a unique, industry-university partnership dedicated to advancing the supply chain industry and the professionalism of its practitioners
Naskaris and Newsome will provide supply chain research and expertise to develop successful, economically viable connections between local food producers and mainstream retail and institutional food buyers. Fellows will analyze the sourcing practices of NCGT project partners as well as research novel practices used by other retail and food service companies across the country.
“This is an exciting opportunity for the two colleges (agriculture and management) to collaborate on a project that brings the two fields together in a unique fashion,” said Dr. Robert Handfield, SCRC co-director. “We are applying supply chain tools and methodologies to the field of local agriculture, and both parties are learning from one another in the process. The fellows are working on mapping end-to-end supply chains to identify gaps in processing, distribution, and customer service that can be addressed through innovative solutions.”
“Through my two years of civil service with FoodCorps in NC, I began to believe that sustaining sustainable agriculture and making its produce accessible to all requires a change in the business of food,” Naskaris said. “Learning supply chain management seemed like my best next step to support my mission. Working with CEFS’ new NC Growing Together project, which seeks to scale up local food supply chains, while learning from Dr. Handfield, the SCRC, and a highly innovative group of N.C. farmers and sustainable agribusinesses was an opportunity I could not pass up.”
Newsome added: “I was drawn to the CEFS/SCRC fellowship because it will give me the chance to engage in economic development in my home state. This particular fellowship is unique in that my research into seafood and dairy supply chains will hopefully lead to new and more profitable marketing channels for North Carolina fishermen and small and mid-size farmers.”
The fellowship awards provide tuition support, financial stipends and benefits. Two additional fellowships will be awarded over the duration of the NCGT project.
