Tickets are still available for the 12th annual Ag is Everyone’s Business event scheduled for Friday, March 1 at Boeckmann Farms, owned and operated by Jason and Amy Boeckmann, located north of Hillsboro. This event is presented annually by the Highland County Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by many local businesses.

Tickets for the event are $25 and can be purchased by visiting the chamber office at 129 N. High St. in Hillsboro, calling 937-393-1111, or online with an additional fee. Tickets will not be available the day of the event. Seating for the event will be limited so purchase your ticket early.

This year’s keynote speaker, sponsored by R.D. Holder Oil Company, is Shawn Hackett, ag commodities expert and TV and radio personality. Hackett has dedicated his life to educating ag industry leaders and farmers about financial risk management, hedging and the utility of indicator-based ag commodity price forecasting tools. His extensive research on long-term cycles and statistics on climate, currencies, geopolitics and global capital flows have long been a key differentiating factor for Hackett’s price forecasting skills. Hackett takes complicated concepts and presents them in an easily digestible framework to a wide audience and discusses them regularly in his subscriber-based Hackett Agricultural Report and Hackett Dairy Report. Hackett will be presenting: How weather, geopolitics and other factors are influencing ag prices.

Kicking off the event will be Melanie Wilt, founder and CEO of Shift-ology Communication, will be speaking. Wilt is an expert PR consultant and communication coach who has led communications for state and international organizations in food and agriculture and aerospace. As an accredited PR professional (APR), she is well-versed in all aspects of public relations, but is expert in the practices of community relations, media relations and crisis communication. Wilt is a passionate advocate for agriculture and has pioneered applying neuroscience and virtual experiences to industry communication. In addition, she is a gifted science communicator whose teaching methods apply to health, education and manufacturing’s most difficult communication and business challenges. Wilt will be presenting: Multi-generational teams that work.

Doors will open at 9 a.m. and welcoming remarks will start at 10 a.m. The event will conclude at noon with a lunch that will be prepared by a local caterer and served by local FFA Chapter members.

Announcements about the event, as well as other chamber activities, will be made available on www.thehighlandchamber.com as well as the chamber’s social media accounts.

Jamie Wheeler is the executive director of the Highland County Chamber of Commerce.