Forbes AgTech Summit begins Wednesday

UPDATE 7/11/2016 6:15 PM:

The 2016 Forbes AgTech Summit in Salinas is the perfect marriage between agriculture and innovation. Hundreds of people are expected at the conference, which will be held outside of the Taylor Building in Salinas City Center. Salinas Mayor Joe Gunter said last year’s conference was a major success.

“Normally, they never come back to a city twice,” Gunter said. “Forbes generally goes one time, then waits four or five years then comes back.”

But Salinas is an obvious pick. It’s an hour away from Silicon Valley, the Tech Capital of the World. Salinas is trying to brand itself at the Agriculture Tech Capital of the world.

Attendance is expected to nearly double this year with 750 visitors. Among the topics to be discussed are food security, labor, and water use. Some entrepreneurs are already digging in.

Since opening last winter, the Western Grower’s Center for Innovation and Technology has been home to 19 startups. Many of these entrepreneurs found a need and are meeting it. Many are from the Bay Area, but others come from across the country and around the world, including New Zealand. They’re planting themselves at the Innovation Center.

“We’re finding it’s an opportunity for different companies of different and varying levels in their maturation or their level of business to either have some assistance in their business growth but also to have the opportunity to meet growers and get on trials and on farm and be able to start going on their new direction,” said Lisa Dobbins, the consulting manager at the Innovation Center.

Dobbins has helped cultivate some of these businesses. HarvestPort is described as an Airbnb for farm equipment.

“Stone fruit is harvested in the summer, citrus fruit is harvested another time,” said Carson Britz, chief operating officer of HarvestPort. “You can actually have those two organizations be able to not own the bins that need to be harvest, but they can actually rent from one another, and actually share assets that way.”

There’s also HeavyConnect, which can track equipment and service history and record field notes using mobile devices, reducing paperwork. Patrick Zelaya is a local, who hires locals.

“We built our product around the Salinas Valley grower, using students from Hartnell to do a lot of the product development and we hire them as they graduate,” Zelaya said. “So they become part of the team.”

The Innovation Center is at half-capacity now and is eager to help other entrepreneurs grow.

ORIGINAL POST:

Preparations are underway for the Forbes AgTech Summit, which starts Wednesday in downtown Salinas. Over 500 people are expected to attend.

To accommodate the conference, which showcases the latest technological innovations in agriculture, Main Street is closed between Gabilan Street and the Steinbeck Center.

KION’s Mariana Hicks will preview the event tonight at 5 and 6 p.m..