BlueTech Valley will host its second water conference on Wednesday and Thursday in Clovis, focusing on water efficiency technology’s role in securing food supply in the future.
The conference targets agribusiness, suppliers and food processors in the Valley to encourage innovation in the field and educate about water efficiency and how that connects to the food supply.
Fresno State’s Water, Energy and Technology Center (WET Center) partners with BlueTech Valley and the Central Valley Business Incubator to host the conference. It serves as the academic segment of the water initiative.
BlueTech Valley serves as a marketing vehicle recognizing the Valley as a hotspot for water and energy efficiency in relation to agriculture and food, said Helle Petersen, the general manager of the WET Center. Petersen said BlueTech Valley unifies the water business community.
“We have a really unique ecosystem to get those new technologies tested and fitted and commercialized out of this area, but we just need one group to get the message out,” Petersen said.
This year, Doug Rauch, former CEO of Trader Joe’s will kick off the conference by speaking about innovation.
Each day there will be a keynote speaker, panel sessions and a showcased company. The panel sessions will be on topics like food processing, research and innovation and recycled wastewater. The panels will consist of multiple speakers that are professionals and experts in that specific subject. From Fresno State, professor David Zoldoske from the Center for Irrigation Technology and Sarge Green from the California Water Institute will be speaking on the panels.
Petersen said this year there will be a special announcement with the organization Imagine H20 that is based in San Francisco.
This is the second time BlueTech Valley has put on the conference. The first time was in 2011, when the conference focused on investment and innovation in water. In 2012, and in the opposite years of this conference, the International Center for Water Technology has their water conference, which focuses more on technology.
Petersen said the Central Valley Business Incubator is interested in the water conference to attract new businesses and more entrepreneurs to locate and build businesses in the Valley and take advantage of the resources here.
“I think it is going to help put this area on the map and raise people’s attention on what is really going on down here with ag and food processing and water,” Petersen said.
He hopes those who attend the conference will come away with a better awareness of water issues in the field of agriculture and the new technologies that can solve some of those issues.
“We want them to get inspired and challenged and take things with them to their companies that they can change and do better,” Petersen said.
The event is at the Clovis Veterans Memorial District and begins on Wednesday at noon and ends on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. The event is open to the public. Free tickets are available for Fresno State students and staff. Regular ticket prices are $149.