Become A Sponsor

Henry G. Parks, Jr. (1916 – 1989), is best known as the founder of H.G. Parks, Inc., the first black corporation to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. He was born Henry Faris Parks in Atlanta, Georgia on September 29, 1916 to Henry Green Parks Sr., of Atlanta, Georgia, and Gainelle Esther Williams, of Birmingham, Alabama. He was raised, however, in Dayton, Ohio when his parents moved north.

In 1951 Parks established the Parks Sausage Company which he headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. The following year the United States Department of Agriculture agreed to regular inspection of Parks Sausages. With the government guarantee of the quality of his products, within two decades, Parks was operating a multi-million- dollar corporation selling his pork products as far north as Connecticut and as far south as Virginia.

The success of Parks Sausage Company caught the attention of corporate America. By 1968 Parks appeared on the cover of Business Week. Soon afterwards he joined the board of directors of First Pennsylvania Corporation, Magnavox, W. R. Grace and Company, and Warner Lambert. In January 1969 Parks took Parks Sausage public and it became the first African American firm listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Between 1951 and 1977 Parks Sausage Company never posted a losing year. Company sales reached a record $14 million in 1976. On May 20, 1977, the Norin Corporation acquired more than 95% of the outstanding common stock of the Parks Company and Henry retired from the business at the age of 61.

The exclusive premier event sponsorship benefits include:

• Premier company recognition before, during & after the Summit

• Assistance in identifying networking/contact opportunities that could be of usefulness to the Sponsor

• Invitation to provide remarks during the Summit, e.g. 5- or 10-min. virtual company/organization profile (pre-recorded presentation/video)

• Registration contact list

• Company name & logo on online signage/introductions for the Summit

• Leader board banner with company/organization logo (728 X90 pixels) on the Innovation in Agriculture &

• Energy Opportunity Zone Summit website, www.IAEOZsummit.com

• One-year banner and video posting on the ‘What Works’ online video platform

• Pre-conference Sponsor recognition in e-mail blast to registrants

• Digital Copies of Summit Presentations & Materials

• Premier sponsorship recognition on all IAEOZ Webinars and Podcasts for one year

Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, (August 5, 1946 – Present) is a theoretical American physicist and the eighteenth President of the renowned engineering and research University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Dr. Jackson is the first African-American woman to receive a Doctorate in any field from MIT and the first woman and African American woman to Chair the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. She holds a B.S. in Physics, and a Ph.D. in Theoretical Elementary Particle Physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Event sponsorship benefits include:

• Company recognition before, during & after the Summit

• Company name & logo on online signage/introductions for the Summit, and on the Innovation in Agriculture & Energy Opportunity Zone Summit website, www.IAEOZsummit.com

• A 6-months banner and video posting on the ‘What Works’ online video platform

• Pre-conference Sponsor recognition in e-mail blast to registrants

• Digital Copies of Summit Presentations & Materials

• Sponsorship recognition on all IAEOZ Webinars and Podcasts for 6 months

Booker T. Whatley (November 5, 1915 – September 3, 2005) was an agricultural professor at Tuskegee University and one of the pioneers of sustainable agriculture in the post-World War II era. Dr. Whatley envisioned and advocated "to create an agrarian black middle class". He received his B.S. degree in agriculture from Alabama A&M University Doctorate in Horticulture from Rutgers University. He later earned a Law degree from Alabama A&M University in 1989. Dr. Whatley is best known for his regenerative farming system, in combination with the direct marketing concept of pick-your own (PYO), a customer harvesting operation managed by farmers and growers.

Event sponsorship benefits include:

• Company recognition before, during & after the Summit

• Name & logo on online signage/introductions for the Summit

• Pre-conference Sponsor recognition in e-mail blast to registrants

• Digital Copies of Summit Presentations & Materials