The 2nd Annual Virden Oil Capital’s Ag Summit, proved to be a huge success this year! This was a very important day for our Hockey Club. The event brought in many people throughout the area of Virden, as well as some pretty amazing key-note speakers. The day started off with the Trade Show, sponsored by Nutrient Ag Solutions, where businesses throughout our community and surrounding area, had the chance to promote their products and mingle amongst each other. We had over 43 Partners this year who made the day possible! The Trade Show was accompanied by Farmery Lounge happy hour and Boston Pizza appetizers, generously donated by Pioneer Hi-Bred, as well as our prominent speakers for the day; three people who shared their wealth of knowledge and stories relating to the Agriculture world. We were fortunate enough to have Shaun Haney, Manager of RealAgriculture.com, and host of RealAg Radio, along with Kim Keller, co-founder of “Sk Woman In Ag” and “Farm at Hand.” The MC of the event was Jeff Odgers, former NHL player and local organic producer. All three speakers were a pleasure to have and engaged the audience with their experiences and expertise! Our Product and Technology Auction was the focal point of the evening. There was a mix of Silent & Live Auction items up for bid, the Live Auction being hosted by Ritchie Bros. The evening ended in an Oil Capitals victory against the Steinbach Pistons, where tickets were supplied by Decisive Farming.
“The Ag Summit was again a huge success for our organization. We really appreciate the tremendous support we receive from our business partners and fans who are involved in the Ag industry. We look forward to this event growing from year to year as it is such a great event!” Tyson Ramsey, Head Coach and General Manager of the Oil Capitals.
The Ag Summit Committee had this to say about the day; “We were extremely delighted with the turnout and participation in our 2nd Ag Summit. Our attendees, partners, and speakers who committed to the trade show and/or the auction, we can’t thank them enough. The trade show really took a big step this year. I think the partner booths really felt there was more time spent on the floor this year, having face to face time with producers and public in the attendance. Our auction garnered more interest this year. Ritchie Bros did a great job in promoting and facilitating the auction. Again, we couldn’t have done this without all our great partners who really have committed to this event. Our speakers; Kim Keller, Shaun Haney, and Jeff Odgers (MC) kept the attendees engaged for the duration of the afternoon. Kim opened up conversations on mental health in Agriculture while Shaun elaborated on today’s Ag economy and opened up a “door” with what’s in store for Ag Technology moving forward. Jeff Odgers kept the crowd entertained for the afternoon with NHL stories, past and present. At the end of the day, we are looking to bring back to the community, an event that brings the Ag Community to one location while being a major fundraiser for our hockey club. This is something that our partners involved are seeing the benefits and are looking forward to, for the coming year. Once again, The Virden Oil Capitals Hockey Club, the Ag Summit Committee, and Board of Directors would like to thank all involved with the 2nd Ag Summit. We are looking forward to hosting this growing event once again next year.”
On behalf of the Oil Capitals organization, we would like to send out an immense, heart-felt thank you to all of our Partners for their generous donations and sponsorships this year, along with our Platinum Sponsors, Nutrien Ag Solutions, Pioneer Hi-Bred and Decisive Farming. We feel very fortunate to play hockey in such a generous and giving community! We would also like to thank our Committee Members for their hard work and all of the attendees and producers involved. We hope you had an informative and great day!
