CEA Summit East 2026 Partners
CEA Summit East 2026
Appalachian Sustainable Development CEO Kathlyn Terry Baker and Matthew Lohr set to lead September 15 fireside discussion
This keynote gets right to a question every grower has asked themselves at some point: ‘I grew it, now what?’ This session brings answers to that question, & there is no better way to open the Summit.”— Brian Sullivan, CEO, Indoor Ag-ConDANVILLE, VA, UNITED STATES, August 10, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Indoor Ag-Con and the CEA Innovation Center have unveiled the opening morning keynote for the Fifth Annual Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) Summit East, scheduled for September 15-16, 2026, at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR) in Danville, VA.
The Summit will commence with a fireside chat called "Grow It, Then What? Building the Bridge to Market," featuring Kathlyn Terry Baker, CEO of Appalachian Sustainable Development (ASD), in discussion with Matthew Lohr, President of VP Strategies LLC and Virginia's former Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry. This session is set for Tuesday, Sept. 15, from 8:45 to 9:30 a.m.
Many growers believe the tough part is simply producing more. Baker, who has spent years collaborating with growers throughout Appalachia, has discovered a different reality: locating a buyer is frequently more challenging than cultivating the crop, and market development must occur before any seed is planted. During the session, Lohr will explore what small and mid-sized growers truly need to connect with grocery, institutional, and wholesale buyers—covering food safety, consistency, packaging, and communication—and what steps a grower not yet ready for wholesale should take first.
The discussion will also delve into how ASD's Appalachian Harvest food hub model operates and why Baker argues that no two food hubs are identical. Baker will also highlight a new agricultural campus underway in Bristol, Va., designed to expand opportunities for growers—including an Herb Hub aimed at helping small medicinal-herb producers meet buyer standards, and a controlled-environment production space where ASD plans to grow goldenseal, a medicinal root that typically requires four to seven years to mature in the wild, in roughly six months. Time will be set aside at the session's conclusion for audience questions.
“This keynote gets right to a question every grower in the room has asked themselves at some point: ‘I grew it, now what?’ This session brings real answers to that question, and there is no better way to open the Summit,” said Brian Sullivan, CEO, Indoor Ag-Con.
“What makes Kathlyn’s perspective so valuable is that it calls upon years of hands-on lessons about what actually works for growers trying to connect to market, including the hard parts. That kind of honest, real-world insight is exactly what our research and education mission is about,” said Dr. Scott Lowman, Vice President of Applied Research at IALR and Co-Director of the CEA Innovation Center.
Deep-Dive Tracks, Panels, Showcase Sessions and Tours
The keynote launches two full days of programming centered around four 90-minute deep-dive breakout tracks covering everything from launching a CEA operation to core horticultural skills, technology and data management, and food safety and pest management—with select sessions held directly inside the working greenhouse of the CEA Innovation Center. Special panel presentations round out the general session schedule, featuring a dedicated session on Strengthening the Workforce Ecosystem on Day 1 and a panel on What's Next in CEA Crops – Breeding and Variety Development on Day 2. The well-liked CEA Industry & Research Showcase Sessions also return across both days with fast-paced presentations from industry innovators and researchers.
The Summit concludes on the afternoon of Sept. 16 with a guided tour of the CEA Innovation Center, included with every conference pass. Attendees will tour the research greenhouse, automation systems, and ongoing trials shaping the future of CEA, led by the researchers and specialists doing the work.
The complete schedule, speaker list, networking events, tabletop exhibits, and registration are available at www.ceasummit.com. For exhibitor and sponsorship inquiries, contact Suzanne Pruitt at suzanne@indoor.ag or 404.452.1884.
About CEA Summit East
The CEA Summit East is an annual conference that brings together greenhouse growers, vertical farm operators, and controlled environment agriculture (CEA) professionals with researchers, extension specialists, suppliers, and industry leaders. Produced by Indoor Ag-Con and the CEA Innovation Center—a joint initiative of IALR and the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences—the Summit emphasizes the intersection of protected cropping, production science, and emerging technology. Held at IALR in Danville, Va, the event includes keynote presentations, panel discussions, breakout sessions, tabletop exhibits, and guided tours of the CEA Innovation Center's working research facility. For more details, visit www.ceasummit.com
About Indoor Ag-Con
Now in its 14th year, Indoor Ag-Con serves as the global event for protected ag, greenhouse growing, and CEA, linking growers, suppliers, researchers, and technology leaders across the full agriculture supply chain. Indoor Ag-Con 2027 takes place March 24-25, 2027, at the Westgate Las Vegas. Indoor Ag-Con also presents CEA Summit East, held each fall in Danville, VA, in partnership with the CEA Innovation Center, a joint project with Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and IALR. For more details, visit www.indoor.ag
About the CEA Innovation Center
The CEA Innovation Center is primarily based in Danville, Virginia, on the IALR campus and in Blacksburg, Virginia, on the Virginia Tech main campus. It is a joint project between the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and IALR, serving the expanding controlled environment agriculture industry. It addresses industry needs through research, education, and extension programs. For more details, visit www.ceaic.org
About Appalachian Sustainable Development
Appalachian Sustainable Development (ASD) works to build a resilient regional economy through sustainable agriculture and forestry. Through its Appalachian Harvest food hub, ASD connects small and mid-size producers across Southwest Virginia, Northeast Tennessee, and beyond to wholesale buyers. ASD is currently developing a new agricultural campus in Bristol, Va., that will house an Herb Hub and a controlled-environment production space. For more details, visit www.asdevelop.org
Suzanne Pruitt
Indoor Ag-Con
+1 404-452-1884
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