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Innovation and Technology: The Future of Farming

How will fully automated farming shape local and global communities?

headshot of Jeanne Harmeyer By Jeanne Harmeyer 5135565843
3 minute read March 4, 2022

Event Information (passed)

Date: - Location: Cooper Creek Event Center Ticketing: Registration required

The UC Real Estate Center features the March Roundtable Series taking place on Friday, March 25, 2022, at Cooper Creek Event Center. All attendees are required to register prior to the event. Roundtable Members are admitted for free with a 2021-22 Membership. The non-member charge is $95 per person, and UC faculty, staff and students are admitted for free.

Sign-in and networking will begin at 7:30 a.m. followed by a breakfast buffet. The program will begin at 8:10 a.m.

Guest speaker Noah Zelkind of 80 Acres Farms will deliver a presentation followed by Q&A about the company's vertical farm systems and breakthrough growing technologies that have enabled over 450% revenue growth since the end of 2020.

To date, 80 Acres Farms operates eight indoor farms and is committed to supporting and building high-tech production facilities close to regions where fresh produce is consumed. The company has transformed a former factory in Hamilton, Ohio, to a world-class indoor tomato farm in addition to moving ahead with expansion plans to open a new vertical farming facility in Boone County, Kentucky.

Our Guest Speaker

Noah Zelkind headshot

Noah Zelkind

Noah Zelkind
Director, Data Analytics & Insights
80 Acres Farms

Noah received his Bachelor of Arts in both history and economics from New York University. He was the only non-business major at NYU to earn a spot in investment banking that year, landing a coveted spot fresh out of college at BNP Paribas, a French international banking group based in Manhattan on Wall Street.

After a highly successful tenure on BNP’s commodities desk, he returned to his hometown of Cincinnati with the intent to build the world he wanted to see by starting his career with 80 Acres Farms in operations. There, he earned the opportunity to run multiple farms and also was charged with commissioning the 70K reference design farm, the first-in-the-world industrial vertical farming facility. After leading the 70K buildout, Noah transitioned to business development to help craft the expansion strategy for 80 Acres Farms. Following its implementation, Noah built a leadership role for a new data analytics and insights team, where he is now focused on building out an information infrastructure that will prepare the company to successfully leverage that very expansion.

Noah is also a participant in the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber 2022 C-Change 17 class.

Roundtable Series

The UC Real Estate Center, in conjunction with our Premier Partner, PNC Bank, is proud to present our 38th season of networking, national and international speakers, and access to industry leaders.

In 1983, the UC Real Estate Roundtable Series was created to establish and maintain links between the university and the business and real estate communities. The Roundtable Series features guest speakers who present their ideas, thoughts and perspectives on topics that impact the real estate industry. The Roundtable Series strives to:

  • Encourage interaction between real estate professionals and UC students and faculty.
  • Address issues and topics relevant to the real estate industry and leading professionals.
  • Expose real estate professionals to industry research conducted at UC and elsewhere.

Our Roundtable Series membership is comprised of an average of more than 200 industry leaders each year. As our numbers continue to grow, the Roundtable promises to be a rich opportunity for high-quality programming and networking.

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