Cornell Cooperative Extension of Chautauqua County’s Lake Erie Regional Grape Program is excited to announce the recent addition of Andrew Holden to the team. The Business Management Extension Educator at LERGP plays a crucial role providing growers and processors with educational programming and resources that address specific needs and opportunities for the grape industry. The Lake Erie Grape Belt extends all the way from Erie County Pennsylvania through Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Erie and Niagara counties of New York. The business management extension educator is part of an extension team consisting of Jennifer Phillips Russo, Viticulture Extension specialist with Cornell, and Megan Luke, Viticulture and Tree Fruit extension educator with Penn State Extension.
Andrew Holden was hired by Penn State Extension and started in his position at the beginning of March. He comes to us with a background in agriculture having grown up on a dairy farm in Pierpont, Ohio, right on the Pennsylvania/Ohio border. His family farm was quite diverse and included milking cows, cultivating row crops, managing timber, producing maple syrup, making hay, and even growing a small amount of Concord grapes for personal use. Andrew pursued his education at Ohio State University, earning a B.S. in Agribusiness and Applied Economics and later obtaining an M.S. in Agricultural and Extension Education. In his previous role he served as the Ashtabula County Agricultural Extension Educator with Ohio State University Extension for the past 5 years. Looking ahead, Andrew is eager to bring his passion for agriculture, grapes, and wine along with his economic knowledge to this new position and to the growers in the Lake Erie Grape Region. He is looking forward to engaging with growers to help him understand their needs to ensure that his role equips them with the tools needed for success. His office is located at the Cornell AgriTech campus in Portland, NY (CLEREL).
The Lake Erie Regional Grape Program is one of many programs offered by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Chautauqua County (CCE-Chautauqua). CCE-Chautauqua is a subordinate governmental agency with an educational mission that operates under a form of organization and administration approved by Cornell University as agent for the State of New York. It is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The association is part of the national cooperative extension system, an educational partnership between County, State, and Federal governments. As New York’s land grant university Cornell administers the system in this state. Each Cornell Cooperative Extension association is an independent employer that is governed by an elected Board of Directors with general oversight from Cornell. All associations work to meet the needs of the counties in which they are located as well as state and national goals. For more information, call 716-664-9502 or visit our website at www.cce.cornell.edu/chautauqua. Cornell University Cooperative Extension provides equal program and employment opportunities.