CEA Summit East 2026
Plenty CEO Dan Malech kicks off the CEA Summit’s second day in a discussion with Tom Stenzel, Executive Director of the CEA Alliance
“This conversation will explore the real takeaways—what succeeded, what failed, and how to carve out a viable path forward. That’s precisely the type of knowledge the CEA sector needs.”— Tom Stenzel, Executive Director, CEA AllianceDANVILLE, VA, UNITED STATES, September 3, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Indoor Ag-Con and the CEA Innovation Center have unveiled the Day 2 keynote for the Fifth Annual Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) Summit East, scheduled for Sept. 15-16, 2026, at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR) in Danville, VA.
The Summit’s second morning will kick off with a fireside chat titled “Beyond Leafy Greens: Lessons from Plenty’s Next Chapter,” featuring Dan Malech, CEO of Plenty, in dialogue with Tom Stenzel, Executive Director of the CEA Alliance. This session is set for Wednesday, Sept. 16, from 8:30 to 9:15 a.m.
During its initial decade, Plenty constructed a national vertical farming enterprise centered on leafy greens. In the last two years, the organization has narrowed its emphasis, concentrating exclusively on premium strawberries cultivated in Virginia. In this discussion, Malech will converse with Stenzel regarding that transition—what insights the leafy greens era provided about aligning technology with market needs, how the company approaches focus and discipline in a capital-heavy field, and what advice he would offer other operators working toward a sustainable business model.
“Dan offers a frank perspective on what it requires to establish a lasting company in this sector,” said Tom Stenzel, Executive Director of the CEA Alliance. “This conversation will explore the real takeaways—what succeeded, what failed, and how to carve out a viable path forward. That’s precisely the type of knowledge the CEA sector needs.”
This keynote follows the Summit’s opening day keynote on Sept. 15: “Grow It, Then What? Building the Bridge to Market,” a fireside chat featuring Kathlyn Terry Baker, CEO of Appalachian Sustainable Development, in conversation with Matthew Lohr, President of VP Strategies LLC and Virginia’s former Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry.
The complete schedule, speaker lineup, networking occasions, tabletop displays, and registration can be found at www.ceasummit.com. For exhibitor and sponsorship details, reach out to Suzanne Pruitt at suzanne@indoor.ag or 404.452.1884.
About CEA Summit East
The CEA Summit East is a yearly gathering that unites greenhouse growers, vertical farm operators, and controlled environment agriculture (CEA) experts with researchers, extension specialists, vendors, and industry frontrunners. Produced by Indoor Ag-Con and the CEA Innovation Center—a collaborative effort of IALR and the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences—the Summit centers on the convergence of protected cropping, production science, and cutting-edge technology. Held at IALR in Danville, VA, the event features keynote addresses, panel sessions, breakout discussions, tabletop exhibits, and guided tours of the CEA Innovation Center’s operational research facility. Additional details are available at www.ceasummit.com.
About Indoor Ag-Con
Now marking its 14th year, Indoor Ag-Con serves as the worldwide event for protected agriculture, greenhouse cultivation, and CEA, linking growers, suppliers, researchers, and technology pioneers across the entire agricultural supply chain. Indoor Ag-Con 2027 will be held March 24-25, 2027, at the Westgate Las Vegas. Indoor Ag-Con also hosts CEA Summit East, staged each autumn in Danville, VA, in collaboration with the CEA Innovation Center, a joint project with Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and IALR. For further information, visit www.indoor.ag.
About the CEA Innovation Center
The CEA Innovation Center is primarily situated in Danville, Virginia, on the IALR campus and in Blacksburg, Virginia, on the Virginia Tech main campus. It is a collaborative project between the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and IALR, designed to support the expanding controlled environment agriculture industry. It tackles industry requirements through research, education, and extension initiatives. More information is available at www.ceaic.org.
About Plenty
Plenty created a technology platform capable of growing fresh produce nearly anywhere globally, year-round, with peak-season quality while utilizing only a small portion of the land compared to outdoor farms. Plenty’s proprietary method is intended to conserve natural resources, bring fresh produce closer to communities, and strengthen food system resilience against weather, location, pests, and climate effects. Plenty runs a vertical farming research hub in Laramie, Wyoming, and an advanced indoor strawberry farm near Richmond, Virginia. For further details, visit www.plenty.ag.
About the CEA Alliance
The CEA Alliance is a membership trade organization that represents and supports high-tech greenhouse producers and indoor farms cultivating fruits and vegetables in a highly regulated indoor production setting. For additional information, visit www.ceaalliance.com.
Suzanne Pruitt
Indoor Ag-Con
+1 404-452-1884
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