SHELLEY’S SHARE: “From Soil to Market: How I Got Here”

January 26, 2024

On July 13, 2023, Lisa Barge passed away after a long battle with cancer. Lisa was a lot of things: mother, wife, friend, supporter, advocate, educator, coach, and entrepreneur. She was also the Agricultural Marketing and Development Manager at AAEDC. When she left this world, she left behind a large hole that the community grieved. Unsure of who would follow her footsteps, with just as much drive, dedication, and ambition, I believe the farming community felt lost.

I was working at Anne Arundel Soil Conservation District and counted Lisa among not only my work connections, but a friend. She was always there to answer the phone, to drive to the farms, and to get scrappy when it was needed to move agriculture forward in our County. It would take the right person to be able to put on Lisa’s boots and keep the march towards advancement moving forward. There were countless discussions with coworkers on who would step up to the position, and nights of Farm Bureau meetings with her chair empty with the same questions. It was a few months after her passing that the job announcement was released from AAEDC to start the search.

I had no plans of leaving Soil Conservation. I had been there for 11 years, and I hoped to move up the chain one day to District Manager. It was my first “big girl” job. It was my grandmother-in law who had found the job advertisement in the newspaper for me. I had just graduated from the University of Maryland and was helping around the family farm in between my previous time as a veterinary technician and whatever came next. Thank you, Betty Anderson, for pushing me to apply for that job. That job advertisement turned into an interview, which turned into a job offer: helping farmers to reduce sediment and erosion on their farms. Over the years, the position grew into helping navigate the permitting process for agricultural structures and stream restorations. I had an interest in County code, and I also had an interest in making sure that code didn’t impede the farmer. It was a good fit and it was comfortable.

My phone rang one afternoon from a number I hadn’t seen in a while. The caller asked if I had seen the job announcement for the Agricultural Business Development Director position at AAEDC. Lisa’s position. I said that I had. They followed with “know anyone good?” Well, I had put that job announcement already over to a friend who was looking, and I talked her up. I was met with: “let me ask it a different way, would you consider applying?”. Well, I had considered applying, but had quickly dismissed the idea. I had a path I was hoping for already. I replied that I was happy where I was and that I would pass along the announcement, name dropping the other applicant again. And then I went home for the day. I went out to ride my horse, and as many rides allow you to clear your head, I started thinking about the call. The conversation inside my head went a bit like: “nah, no way… well… maybe… no… couldn’t hurt to apply… no… well…”. I landed on deciding to look at my resume the next day and update it. Which led to me applying. Followed by an interview. Followed by an offer call. And well, here I am!

I’ve had a few months to settle in and I can say with certainty that I am proud to have accepted the job and the work that I have to look forward to in my new role. The office was welcoming, and the congratulations from my community has been endless. I hope that I can continue Lisa’s work and add to it. I think she would be proud of who AAEDC chose to fill her boots. I’m looking forward to continuing to help the agricultural community, just in a new role. My first order of business was helping to get more grant funding onto our farms. The previous mini-grant of $1,000 has been changed to the Agricultural Business Improvement Grant (ABIG) for up to $10,000. Same idea, but with a much needed monetary change. That cut off is January 31, 2024 to get your applications in.

If you have any issues at all with the application, or aren’t sure if your project fits, call me. If you have an issue on your farm or something you feel is holding your business back from being the best it can be, call me. I have a lot of ideas I’d like to put into motion, and I hope you all will benefit in some way from them. Not to mention if I don’t have the answer, I’ll find it, or if there’s something holding agriculture development back, I’ll work to change the code to make it happen. I look forward to working with you all and where we can take agriculture from here.

Sincerely,

Shelley

[email protected] or 443-336-9899

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